Blessing Eleke (born 5 March 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a

striker Striker or The Strikers may refer to: People *A participant in a strike action *A participant in a hunger strike *Blacksmith's striker, a type of blacksmith's assistant *Striker's Independent Society, the oldest mystic krewe in America People wi ...

who last played for

Istiklol tg, Истиқлол , image_skyline = , imagesize = , image_caption = , image_flag = , image_seal = , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Tajikistan , pushpin_label_position =bottom , pushpin_mapsize = , pushp ...

. He previously played for Gorica, Olimpija Ljubljana,

Ashdod Ashdod ( he, ''ʾašdōḏ''; ar, أسدود or إسدود ''ʾisdūd'' or '' ʾasdūd'' ; Philistine: 𐤀𐤔𐤃𐤃 *''ʾašdūd'') is the sixth-largest city in Israel. Located in the country's Southern District, it lies on the Mediterran ...

Luzern , neighboring_municipalities= Adligenswil, Ebikon, Emmen, Horw, Kriens, Malters, Meggen, Neuenkirch Lucerne ( , ; High Alemannic: ''Lozärn'') or Luzern ()Other languages: gsw, Lozärn, label=Lucerne German; it, Lucerna ; rm, Lucerna . is a ...

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen, or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the second-tier First Division B after relegating from the top tier in the 2021–22 season. In 201 ...

, Gençlerbirligi and

Kashima Antlers are a football club in Kashima, Ibaraki, currently playing in the J1 League, top tier of Japanese professional football leagues. The name ''Antlers'' is derived from the city name, Kashima, which literally means "deer island". The club has fi ...

Professional career

Early life and career

Eleke grew up in Lagos with his three brothers and four sisters. He started playing football at Flying Sports Academy in his home country, before having an unsuccessful trial at Serie A club

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

. Later on, he admitted that the transition from Nigeria to Europe was a difficult task to handle at the beginning.

Slovenia

Eleke signed for Olimpija Ljubljana in January 2016 for a reported fee of

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

750,000. On 10 April 2016, in a league fixture versus

Zavrč Zavrč (, in order sources ''Zavrče'', german: Sauritsch) is a settlement in the Haloze area of Slovenia. It is the seat of the Municipality of Zavrč. It lies between the right bank of the Drava River and the border with Croatia. The area trad ...

, Olimpija's manager

Nikolić Nikolić (), meaning "son of Nikola", is a common South Slavic surname and is found in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Austria and Serbia. Nikolić is the third most frequent surname in Serbia, and is also common in Croatia, with 6,35 ...

reportedly called Eleke a "black idiot", for elaborately celebrating an injury-time equalizer in an eventual 1–1 draw. Nikolić's contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent on 18 April 2016., although Eleke asked club president Milan Mandarić not to sack the manager. Eleke revealed that, although he considered leaving the club, he did not want to see his coach sacked, as he did not believe in

eye for an eye "An eye for an eye" ( hbo, עַיִן תַּחַת עַיִן, ) is a commandment found in the Book of Exodus 21:23–27 expressing the principle of reciprocal justice measure for measure. The principle exists also in Babylonian law. In Roman c ...

Israel and Switzerland

In August 2017, Eleke transferred to Israeli Premier League club

for a reported fee of €800,000. On 27 July 2018, Eleke signed a four-year contract with Swiss Super League club FC Luzern for a reported fee of approximately 1 million Swiss francs. After being cleared to play for Luzern, he managed to score on his debut, helping his club get past Lugano 4–2.

Gençlerbirligi SK

On 1 September 2021, Eleke was loaned out to Turkish club Gençlerbirligi SK for the rest of the season.

Kashima Antlers

On 1 August 2022, Kashima Antlers confirmed an agreement with K Beerschot VA for him to join on a complete transfer, becoming one of the few Nigerian footballers to play in Japan. Eleke only made 6 appearances for the club over two seasons and was released from the club when his contract expired at the end of the 2023 season.

Istiklol

On 21 March 2024,

Tajikistan Higher League The Ligai Olii Tojikiston ( Tajik: ''Лигаи Олии Тоҷикистон'') or Tajikistan Higher League ( fa, لیگ عالی فوتبال تاجیکستان, Russian: ''Высшая лига Таджикистана'') is the top division ...

club

announced the signing of Eleke to a one-year contract. On 20 April, Eleke scored a Hattrick for Istiklol in their 6-0 victory over

Kuktosh Rudaki Kuktosh Rudaki is a Tajik professional football club based in Rudaki District. History They won the 2017 Tajikistan First League and were promoted to the top division Tajikistan Football League for 2018. In 2018 was debut season in first leve ...

in the Tajikistan Higher League.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana * PrvaLiga: 2015–16 Istiklol *

Tajik Supercup The Superjomi Tojikiston (''Tajiki: Суперҷоми Тоҷикистон''; fa, سوپرجام تاجیکستان), or Tajik Super Cup, is a one-match football annual competition. The two participating clubs are holders of the Tajik League ch ...

2024 Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1928 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ***''Steamboat Willie'', Walt Disney's fi ...

References

External links

* * 1996 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards Nigerian expatriate men's footballers ND Gorica players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Slovenian PrvaLiga players F.C. Ashdod players FC Luzern players K Beerschot VA players Kashima Antlers players Israeli Premier League players Swiss Super League players Belgian Pro League players J1 League players Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Japan Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Japan Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey {{Nigeria-footy-forward-stub