Jonathan Kisolokele Leko (born 24 April 1999) is a 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 club

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. The ...

. He began his career with

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pla ...

, made his senior debut as a 16-year-old in 2015, and spent time

on loan In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...

and

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in C ...

. He joined

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...

in 2020, and had a spell on loan at Charlton in 2021 before signing for Milton Keynes Dons in 2023. Leko was born in the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...

and grew up in England from the age of eight. He has represented England at all levels up to under-20.

Early life

Leko was born in 1999 in

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

, in the

. He came to England at the age of eight with his father, who was granted

asylum Asylum may refer to: Types of asylum * Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome * Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute * Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea ...

. He grew up in the

Nechells Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward within the formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government ward includes areas, for example parts of Birmingham city centr ...

area of

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the West ...

, and after he joined West Bromwich Albion's football academy, he was educated at

Sandwell Academy Sandwell Academy is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. The school opened in 2006 and has since opened a new, on-site building with various fitness, IT and classroom facil ...

, opposite the club's stadium.

Club career

West Bromwich Albion

Leko joined

at the age of 11. According to the club's academy manager, Mark Harrison, he was "a bit of a rough diamond", but by the under-14s he had developed an understanding of the game and was showing considerable creative ability. He was included in the first team's 2015 pre-season tour of Austria, during which he came off the bench in a 3–1 loss against Red Bull Salzburg. Leko made his competitive debut on 23 September 2015 as a 77th-minute substitute in a

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

defeat to

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. On 2 April 2016, he was named in the matchday squad against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...

, and came on for

Saido Berahino Saido Berahino (born 4 August 1993) is a Burundian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol and captains the Burundi national team. Having fled his native Burundi as a child, he received pol ...

in the 78th minute to make his

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 ...

debut at the age of 16 years and 344 days. When he took the field on 30 April against

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium, hav ...

, Leko became the first player born in 1999 to start a Premier League match. In the last match of the season, a 1–1 draw with

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

, he set up

Salomón Rondón José Salomón Rondón Giménez (; born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Venezuela national team, and is currently a free agent. After starting out at Aragua, he went on to spend most o ...

's goal with a solo run. Before the match, Leko received the club's Young Player of the Season award. On 28 June, he agreed terms on his first professional contract, a three-year deal lasting to June 2019. He made nine Premier League appearances for West Bromwich Albion in 2016–17. Away to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Stoke ...

on 24 September 2016, he took a corner from which Rondón headed a

stoppage-time Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

equaliser. He then won the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of youth football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Football Association via the Elite Player Performanc ...

Player of the Month award for December with the West Bromwich Albion U23s. Leko was one of 98 nominations for the European Golden Boy award for 2017, but did not make the 24-man shortlist. West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the Championship in 2018, but Leko played little during the 2018–19 season.

Bristol City (loan)

Leko made one substitute appearance for West Brom, in the

2017–18 EFL Cup The 2017–18 EFL Cup was the 58th season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. It was known as the Carabao Cup due to the start of a sponsorship deal with Cara ...

, before joining

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this system ...

club

on 28 August on a season-long loan. He was recalled in January 2018 after 11 goalless appearances, so that he could by assessed by new manager

Alan Pardew Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris. Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final th ...

Charlton Athletic (first loan)

On 8 August 2019, Leko and teammate Sam Field joined

on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal against

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...

on 31 August. Having scored five goals from 21 appearances, Leko suffered an

ACL injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...

during the match against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus Ro ...

on 23 December which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He returned to his parent club for treatment. Leko made a complaint to

the Football Association The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

about an incident of racial abuse by

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road S ...

goalkeeper

Kiko Casilla Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Getafe CF. He started playing for Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, ...

in a match in September. Casilla was found guilty by an independent panel in February 2020 and received an eight-match ban and a £60,000 fine. Leko said afterwards that he had been disappointed both by the delay in resolving the issue and by the lack of support from the

Professional Footballers' Association The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members. The aims of ...

(PFA) and from such anti-racism organisations as Kick It Out and

Show Racism the Red Card Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) is an anti-racism education charity, established in England in January 1996 to harness the high-profile nature of footballers as anti-racist role models to educate against racism throughout society in the United K ...

Birmingham City

Leko signed a three-year contract with Birmingham on 28 August 2020. The fee was undisclosed, but reported as £1 million. After ten months out with the ACL injury, he finally made his Birmingham City debut on 17 October, as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at home to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

Charlton Athletic (second loan)

On 31 August 2021, having made 41 competitive appearances without scoring, Leko re-joined, now,

League One The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...

club

on a season-long loan. He made his second debut for the club on 11 September, as a half-time substitute with Charlton two goals down at home to

Cheltenham Town Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league syst ...

, and scored after 59 minutes; the match ended 1–2.

Return to Birmingham City

Upon his return to Birmingham he scored his first goal for the club in an

EFL Cup The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by the ...

tie against

on 9 August 2022.

Milton Keynes Dons

Leko signed for League One club

on 13 January 2023 for an undisclosed fee.

International career

Leko represented England at under-16 level. He was ever-present for the under-17s in qualifying for the 2016 European Championships. Against

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in the elite round, he set up the first goal for

Reiss Nelson Reiss Luke Nelson ( ; born 10 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal. Early and personal life Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, London He grew up in Aylesbury Estate in ...

and scored the second in a 3–1 win. However, he was unable to take part in the tournament proper because West Bromwich Albion pulled him out of the squad so that he could play in the final two games of the Premier League season. Leko received his first call-up to the England under-18 team for

friendlies An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...

against

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

and

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in September 2016; he appeared in both games. He made four friendly appearances for the under-19s in 2017, but played no competitive matches at that level. Leko made his under-20 debut on 5 September 2019, starting in a goalless draw with the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

at the

New Meadow New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5 road (Great Britain) ...

Shrewsbury Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'Sh ...

, and played twice more at that level.

Career statistics

Honours

Individual

Young Player of the Season: 2015–16 *

Player of the Month: December 2016

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leko, Jonathan 1999 births Living people Footballers from Kinshasa English footballers England youth international footballers Association football forwards West Bromwich Albion F.C. players Bristol City F.C. players Charlton Athletic F.C. players Birmingham City F.C. players Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players English sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to England