Ayodele "Dele" Adeleye (born 25 December 1988) is a Nigerian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who played as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

Club career

Adeleye is a defender who was born in

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

and made his debut in professional football as part of the

Shooting Stars FC Shooting Stars Sports Club (often nicknamed 3SC or ''Oluyole Warriors'') is a Nigerian football club based in Ibadan. History The club was one of the founders of the Nigerian Premier League in 1972, when they were called ''WNDC Ibadan'' (Wester ...

squad before joining Sparta Rotterdam. Reports had linked him to English

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

clubs Everton, West Ham United and Blackburn Rovers. After Sparta's relegation Adeleye went to

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk ( uk, Футбо́льний клуб «Металу́рг» Доне́цьк, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football ...

on a free transfer in June 2010. On 2 September 2011: Tavria have officially announced the signing of two Nigerian international players – Dele Adeleye and

Sani Kaita Sani Haruna Kaita (born 2 May 1986) is a Nigerian former professional association football, footballer who played as a defensive midfielder. Club career Kaita was born in Kano (city), Kano, Nigeria. He joined Sparta Rotterdam in the 2005–06 s ...

- through a statement on their official website, FC Tavria, Dele Adeleye, in the Nigeria squad for two live-wire games against Madagascar on Sunday, comes from Donetsk Metallurg, where he scored three goals in 26 appearances from central defense. In August 2013, Adeleye signed for Anzhi Makhachkala. In January 2014 Adeleye moved to Greek side

Ergotelis The Gymnastics Club «Ergotelis» Heraklion Crete ( el, Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος «O Εργοτέλης» Ηρακλείου Κρήτης, Γ.Σ. Εργοτέλης), commonly known simply as Ergotelis ( el, Εργοτέλης), ...

on a Five-month contract, with the option of another year. In February 2015, Adeleye signed a two-year-contract with Kazakhstan Premier League side

FC Aktobe Football Club Aktobe ( kk, Aqtóbe Fýtbol Klýby), commonly referred to as FC Aktobe or simply Aktobe, is a professional football club based in Aktobe. They last played in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Kazakh football. For ...

. Following the conclusion of the 2015 season, Adeleye was transfer listed by Aktobe. On 20 February 2018, after two years of free agency, he joined Russian club

FC SKA-Khabarovsk Football Club SKA-Khabarovsk (russian: Футбольный клуб СКА-Хабаровск) is a Russian professional association football club based in Khabarovsk which plays in the second-tier Russian First League. They played in the Russi ...

. He only made two appearances for the club, before leaving again as the club were relegated Russian First League and eventually retired from football.

International career

A tall central defender, Adeleye caught the eye of Sparta when playing 3 matches for the Nigeria U-20 at the 2005 FIFA Youth World Cup in the Netherlands. He made his first senior cap in a friendly against

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel (Grea ...

on 29 May 2009.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

*
Player profile
– Sparta Rotterdam

– Voetbal international {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeleye, Dele 1988 births Living people Yoruba sportspeople Nigerian footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Russia Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate footballers in Kazakhstan Men's association football defenders Shooting Stars S.C. players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Metalurh Donetsk players SC Tavriya Simferopol players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players Ergotelis F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players FC Aktobe players FC SKA-Khabarovsk players Eredivisie players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players Kazakhstan Premier League players Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Nigeria Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria Footballers from Lagos 2010 FIFA World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan FC Kuban Krasnodar players Nigeria men's international footballers