George Osrzehmen Ilenikhena (born 16 August 2006) is a Nigerian 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 plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

club Monaco.

Early life

George Ilenikhena was born in Lagos, Nigeria, but he arrived in France aged only 3, growing up in

Antony Antony may refer to: * Antony (name), a masculine given name and a surname * Antony, Belarus, a village in the Hrodna Voblast of Belarus * Antony, Cornwall, a village in Cornwall, United Kingdom ** Antony House, Cornwall, United Kingdom * Antony, ...

Hauts-de-Seine Hauts-de-Seine (; ) is a Departments of France, département in the Île-de-France Regions of France, region, Northern France. It covers Paris's western inner Banlieue, suburbs. It is bordered by Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis and Val-de-Marne to the e ...

Club career

Having made his way through all of the youth levels of the amateur ''Antony Football Evolution'', George Ilenikhena joined the professional club of Amiens that was just relegated to

Ligue 2 Ligue 2 (, League 2), also known as Ligue 2 BKT due to sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by Balkrishna Industries, is a French professional football league. The league serves as the second division of French football and is one of two divisions ...

, for the 2021–22 season. During that season he scored a total of 24 goals for the under-17 national side, also playing and scoring in the Coupe Gambardella. This soon drew the attention of big clubs in France and Abroad during the summer 2022, while he was still just aged 15. Ilenikhena made his professional debut for the

Amiens SC Amiens Sporting Club (; commonly referred to as Amiens SC or simply Amiens) is a French association football club based in the northern city of Amiens in the Hauts-de-France region. The club was formed in 1901 and play in Ligue 2, the second d ...

on 19 November 2022, during a 10–0 home Coupe de France win to the Aiglon du Lamentin. He came on as a substitute for

Jérémy Gelin Jérémy Gelin (born 24 April 1997) is a French professional footballer who plays as defender for club Amiens. Club career Gelin developed through the Rennes academy. He made his Ligue 1 debut on 28 October 2017 against Montpellier. He came on ...

, as his side was already 8–0 up. Having fully moved from the youth teams to the

National 3 National 3 may refer to: *Curriculum for Excellence, Scottish education *Championnat National 3 The Championnat National 3, commonly referred to as simply National 3 and formerly known as Championnat de France Amateur 2, is a football league c ...

reserve team, Ilenikhena still kept on training regularly with the first team, even making his first assist in December 2022 during a friendly game against FUS Rabat. On 29 June 2023, Ilenikhena signed for Belgian Pro League Champions, Royal Antwerp, on a four-year deal, for a reported fee of €6 million. On 11 October 2023, he was named by English newspaper '' The Guardian'' as one of the best players born in 2006 worldwide. Later that year, on 13 December, he scored his first Champions League goal in the 92nd minute of stoppage time, securing a 3–2 victory against Barcelona to be his club's first ever win in the competition. On 25 July 2024, Ilenikhena signed for

Club, AS Monaco.

International career

George Ilenikhena first featured with France youth teams in the summer of 2021, as he was selected with the Under-16, along with the likes of

Warren Zaïre-Emery Warren Zaïre-Emery (born 8 March 2006) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain F.C., Paris Saint-Germain and the France national football team, France national tea ...

Style of play

Ilenikhena is a quick centre-forward, Philippe Hinschberger, the coach of his debut with Amiens, describes him as a strong left-footed player, with an outstanding ability to attack the depth of the field. He mentioned Cristiano Ronaldo and

Kylian Mbappé Kylian Mbappé Lottin (born 20 December 1998) is a French professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Paris Saint-Germain and the France national team. Considered one of the best players in the world, he is renowned for his dribb ...

as his two favorite players.

Career statistics

Honours

Royal Antwerp * Belgian Super Cup:

2023 Events Predicted and scheduled events * January 1 ** In the United States, books, films, and other works published in 1927 will enter the public domain, assuming there are no changes made to copyright law. ** Croatia will adopt the eu ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ilenikhena, George 2006 births Living people Footballers from Lagos People from Antony, Hauts-de-Seine Footballers from Hauts-de-Seine Nigerian men's footballers French men's footballers Immigrants to France Naturalized citizens of France French people of Nigerian descent Black French sportspeople Men's association football forwards Amiens SC players Royal Antwerp F.C. players AS Monaco FC players Championnat National 3 players Ligue 2 players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium French expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium