Tetchi Jores Charlemagne Ulrich Okore (; born 11 August 1992), known as Jores Okore, is a Danish 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

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 ...

for

Changchun Yatai Changchun Yatai Football Club () is a professional Chinese football club that currently participates in the Chinese Super League under licence from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team is based in Changchun, Jilin and their home stadi ...

. Okore is considered a capable and aggressive defender, who is known for his pace and strength.

Early life

Okore was born in

Abidjan Abidjan ( , ; N'Ko script, N’ko: ߊߓߌߖߊ߲߬) is the economic capital of the Ivory Coast. As of the Demographics of Ivory Coast, 2021 census, Abidjan's population was 6.3 million, which is 21.5 percent of overall population of the country, ...

Ivory Coast Ivory Coast, also known as Côte d'Ivoire, officially the Republic of Côte d'Ivoire, is a country on the southern coast of West Africa. Its capital is Yamoussoukro, in the centre of the country, while its largest city and economic centre is ...

. He moved to Denmark with his family at the age of three, where he played football from the age of eight with B.93 in the

Østerbro Østerbro () (literally, "Eastern Bridge") is one of the 10 official districts of Copenhagen, Denmark. It is located just north of the city centre, outside the old city gate Østerport which, after it was moved around 1700, used to be located clo ...

district of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

. He moved to

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand ( da, Nordsjælland), refers to the northern part of the Danish island of Zealand which is not clearly defined but generally covers the area north of Copenhagen. The Danish tourist authorities have recently in ...

in 2007, where he captained the youth side.

Senior career

Nordsjælland

Having previously made a handful of appearances in

Danish Cup The Danish Cup ( da, Landspokalturneringen; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will quali ...

games, including being part of the Nordsjælland Cup-winning team in

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

, Okore made his league debut against

Horsens Horsens () is a city on the east coast of Jutland region of Denmark. It is the seat of the Horsens municipality. The city's population is 61,074 (1 January 2022) and the municipality's population is 94,443 (), making it the 8th largest city in De ...

on 3 April 2011, coming on as a substitute for

Michael Parkhurst Michael Finlay Parkhurst (born January 24, 1984) is an American former soccer player who played as a defender. The 2005 MLS Rookie of the Year and 2007 MLS Defender of the Year Award, Parkhurst was capable of playing both as a center back and r ...

. Okore would continue to making first-team appearances in place of the injured Parkhurst for the remainder of the

season, going on to make 11 league appearances and creating one assist. Okore signed a new four-year contract with the

Farum Farum is a town on the northeast of the island of Zealand in eastern Denmark, 20 km northwest of Copenhagen. The town has a population of 20,312 (1 January 2022).

-based club in June 2011, and was made an official member of the senior squad for the 2011–12 Superliga season by newly appointed head coach

Kasper Hjulmand Kasper Hjulmand (born 9 April 1972) is a Danish football manager and a former player. He is the head coach for the Denmark national team. Playing career A defender, Hjulmand began his career with Randers Freja in 1987 where he played four ye ...

. On 18 September 2011, Jores scored his first senior goal for Nordsjælland in a 2–0 league win over Brøndby. It was his only goal in that season. In November 2011, he signed a new contract, extending his stay with the club to December 2016. He was made vice-captain of Nordsjælland for the 2012–13 season.

Aston Villa

On 13 June 2013, Okore signed for 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 ...

club

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club competes in the , the top tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1874, they have played at their home ground, Villa Park ...

on a four-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £4 million. Nordsjælland confirmed via the club's official Twitter and Facebook accounts that he was their most expensive sale ever. He made his Premier League debut on 21 August 2013 at

Stamford Bridge Stamford Bridge may refer to: * Stamford Bridge, East Riding of Yorkshire, a village in England ** Battle of Stamford Bridge, 25 September 1066 * Stamford Bridge (bridge), a bridge in the village of Stamford Bridge * Stamford Bridge (stadium), in L ...

against

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

, replacing the injured

Ciaran Clark Ciaran Clark (born 26 September 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as a central defender, central midfielder and left-back for Championship club Sheffield United, on loan from Premier League club Newcastle United and the Republic of I ...

a few minutes before half-time. Okore made his first

start on 24 August in Villa's home game against

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 ...

. On 16 September 2013, Villa announced that Okore will be sidelined for the 2013–14 season after suffering a ruptured

anterior cruciate The anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is one of a pair of cruciate ligaments (the other being the posterior cruciate ligament) in the human knee. The two ligaments are also called "cruciform" ligaments, as they are arranged in a crossed formation. ...

ligament injury in his right knee in a game against

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Newcastle upon Tyne, that plays in the Premier League – the top flight of English football. The club was founded in 1892 by the merger of Newcastle East End ...

on 14 September; the injury required season-ending surgery. On 24 November 2014, Okore made his return to the Villa first team in a 1–1 draw against

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

at Villa Park, 14 months after his injury. He scored his first goal for Villa in a 2–1 defeat to Chelsea at

Villa Park Villa Park is a football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, England, with a seating capacity of 42,682. It has been the home of Premier League side Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witton and Aston railway stations ...

, nodding in a cross from

Carles Gil Carles Gil de Pareja Vicent (born 22 November 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for New England Revolution in Major League Soccer. He began his career at Valencia, playing mostly in their reserves a ...

. On 9 April 2016, Okore refused to take a position as a substitute on the bench for Villa's game against

AFC Bournemouth AFC Bournemouth () is a professional association football club based in Kings Park, Boscombe, a suburb of Bournemouth, Dorset, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest division of English club football. Formed in 1899 as B ...

. Subsequently he told caretaker manager,

Eric Black John Eric Black (born 1 October 1963) is a Scottish former professional football player and coach. Black played as a striker for Aberdeen and Metz, winning major trophies with both clubs, and earned two international caps for the Scotland nat ...

that he did not want to be considered for any further games in the 2015–16 season. He was removed from the first-team squad and ordered to train with the under-21 side.

FC Copenhagen

On 27 August 2016, it was confirmed, that Okore had signed a four-year contract with

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga ( da, Superligaen, ) is the current Danish football championship tournament, and administered by the Danish Football Association. It is the highest football league in Denmark and is currently contested by 12 teams each yea ...

-club

FC Copenhagen Football Club Copenhagen ( da, Football Club København, ), commonly known as FC København, FC Copenhagen, Copenhagen or simply FCK, is a professional Danish football club in Copenhagen, Denmark. FCK was founded in 1992 as a superstructure on ...

. He made his Superliga debut for the club on 18 November 2016, when he came on as a substitute in the 89th minute instead of

Rasmus Falk Rasmus Falk Jensen (born 15 January 1992) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Copenhagen in the Danish Superliga. Club career Falk started his career at Middelfart G&BK and moved to Odense Boldklub (OB) alongside ...

in a 2–1 victory over AaB. In his sole season at the club, Okore made five Superliga appearance, in which he played full time in three of the matches.

AaB

On 6 July 2017, it was announced that Okore moved to AaB from Copenhagen for a reported fee of DKK 4.2 million. He signed a three-year contract keeping him at the club until 30 June 2020.

Changchun Yatai

Okore signed a three-year contract with recently promoted

Chinese Super League The Chinese Football Association Super League, commonly known as Chinese Super League or CSL, currently known as the China Ping An Chinese Football Association Super League for sponsorship reasons, is the highest tier of professional football in ...

club

on 25 February 2021, after having made 116 official appearances for AaB. After the move, Okore stated: "As a club and as a city, AaB and

Aalborg Aalborg (, , ) is Denmark's fourth largest town (behind Copenhagen, Aarhus, and Odense) with a population of 119,862 (1 July 2022) in the town proper and an urban population of 143,598 (1 July 2022). As of 1 July 2022, the Municipality of Aalb ...

have more than matched my expectations, and I look back on a good time". He made his debut as a starter for Changchun Yatai on 22 April 2021, the first matchday of the Super League in a 2–1 away win over Dalian Pro.

International career

On 6 September 2011, Okore made his international youth debut for the Denmark under-21 team at the age of 19, participating in a UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifier, winning 3–0 over

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

Having made his debut two months earlier for the U21s, on 6 November 2011 Jores Okore was called up to the Danish senior team as a replacement for

Simon Kjær Simon Thorup Kjær (born 26 March 1989) is a Danish professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for club AC Milan and captains the Denmark national team. He was named 2007 Danish under-19 talent of the year and 2009 Danish Talent of t ...

, for a friendly against

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

on 11 November 2011. He made his senior debut in that match, coming on at the 62nd minute, replacing his club teammate

Andreas Bjelland Andreas Bjelland (born 11 July 1988) is a Danish-Norwegian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Lyngby. He represented Denmark at international level and was part of the Danes' Euro 2012 squad. He is also adept as a full back ...

. Okore was retained for the following international friendly against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, where he received his second cap and first start on 15 November 2011. Okore was once again called up in December 2011 for Denmark's tour of

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

in January. On 24 May 2012, it was announced that Okore had been selected for Denmark's squad for

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

as well as the preceding friendly matches against

Brazil Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Nordsjælland *

** Winner: 2011–12 ** Runner-up:

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. I ...

** Winner:

Aston Villa *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

** Runner-up: 2014–15 Copenhagen * Danish Superliga ** Winner: 2016–17 * Danish Cup ** Winner: 2016–17 AaB * Danish Cup ** Runner-up: 2019–20

References

External links

Profile
at DBU.dk *
Profile and latest matches
at Whoscored.com (in english) {{DEFAULTSORT:Okore, Jores 1992 births Living people Footballers from Abidjan Ivorian emigrants to Denmark Danish men's footballers Denmark under-21 international footballers Denmark international footballers Association football defenders Boldklubben af 1893 players FC Nordsjælland players Danish Superliga players Aston Villa F.C. players F.C. Copenhagen players AaB Fodbold players UEFA Euro 2012 players Danish expatriate men's footballers Danish expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Premier League players Expatriate footballers in China Danish expatriate sportspeople in China Chinese Super League players Changchun Yatai F.C. players FA Cup final players