Transfer news: Canada striker Theo Bair joins Auxerre from Motherwell

Now official 

Theo Bair has decided to make the next step in his career in Ligue 1. On Tuesday, French club AJ Auxerre announced that they had signed the 24-year-old Canadian men’s national team forward from Scottish club Motherwell. According to a report by The Herald, Motherwell will receive an initial £1.6m plus £500,000 (€1.9m plus €600,000) for Bair. 

“My time at the club has been unbelievable,” Bair said in an official statement posted on Motherwell’s club site. “These have been some of the most enjoyable moments of my career. I love this club and I will always be a supporter. I wish everyone nothing but the best!” Indeed, there is no doubt that Bair has made a big step forward in his career at Motherwell. Signed on a free transfer from St. Johnstone, Bair managed 15 goals and six assists in 41 games across all competitions for Motherwell last season. As a result, he improved his market value from €350,000 to €1m and was called up by CanMNT head coach Jesse Marsch to represent his country at the Copa América this summer (one game). 

It is a remarkable turn of events for a forward whose career seemed to go nowhere in Scotland. “Bair was widely derided during his first venture in Scottish football with St Johnstone, which yielded just one goal in 39 games,” UK Content Manager and Scotland expert Euan Robertson said. “Eyebrows were raised when Motherwell offered Bair a second chance in Scotland, but he was an absolute revelation. The Canadian international worked tirelessly to improve his all-round game – Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell also deserves huge credit, and it paid dividends. After a slow start, Bair transformed his fortunes in 2024 with 11 league goals, and he was an unstoppable force. To put his move to Auxerre into context, the transfer fee represents Motherwell’s third highest departure in their history (overview).”

Perhaps it was always there, though, for Bair. After all, the Ottawa, Ontario native was considered one of Canada’s brightest projects when he first burst onto the scene for the Vancouver Whitecaps in 2019. The Whitecaps had just sold Alphonso Davies to Bayern Munich in what remains a record deal for a player developed by MLS and Bair was considered the next big thing in a pipeline of what appeared a deep prospect pool. And Bair delivered at first. Playing as a winger and a supporting striker, the then 19-year-old scored two goals and two assists in the second half of the 2019 MLS season and was selected to represent his club at the MLS Homegrown Game at the 2019 MLS All-Star Game festivities. 

“This is me living out my dream,” Bair said before the MLS All-Star game. “This is me living out goals that I set for myself, so this is really exciting for me. It’s everything that I want.” But the dream became a nightmare as his development at the Whitecaps stalled. Rather than playing their talent, Bair was sent out on loan to Norwegian club HamKam and then sold to St. Johnstone in a deal worth just €123,000. That transfer was followed up with a poor campaign in Scotland. 

At that point, this is where the story ends for many Canadian prospects. But Bair received a second chance at Motherwell and made the most of it. A powerful and direct center-forward, Bair paid back the trust handed to him by the coaching staff and, for the first time in five years, showed the talent that made many in Vancouver connect him with Canada’s biggest star, Davies. Now, to be clear. Bair is nothing like Davies. Although Bair was more of a dribbler early on in his career, the Canadian has used his directness and size to develop into a more classical no.9 and more productive goalscorer. Indeed, last season, Bair finished the regular season with 17 goal contributions, which ranked him fifth in the Premiership and earned him a move to a top-five European league.