Joshua Erowoli Orisunmihare Oluwaseun Maja (born 27 December 1998) 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 ...

who plays as a striker for club

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectur ...

. Born in England, he played one match for the Nigeria national team in 2019. Maja played youth football with

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building ...

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea. The area faces Wandsworth ...

and

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

and began his professional career with

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 ...

, making 49 appearances and scoring 17 goals. In January 2019, he joined Bordeaux.

Early life

Born in the

London Borough of Lewisham Lewisham () is a London borough in south-east London; it forms part of Inner London. The principal settlement of the borough is Lewisham. The local authority is Lewisham London Borough Council, based in Catford. The Prime Meridian passes throug ...

to Nigerian parents, he grew up in

Pimlico Pimlico () is an area of Central London in the City of Westminster, built as a southern extension to neighbouring Belgravia. It is known for its garden squares and distinctive Regency architecture. Pimlico is demarcated to the north by London V ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

. As a youngster he played for the youth teams of

and

, and despite being formally registered with Fulham he spent some time with

Club career

Sunderland

Maja was not offered a scholarship by Manchester City and in March 2015, Fulham reached an agreement with Sunderland for him to sign a two-year scholarship. In May 2016, he signed his first professional contract with the club, penning a three-year deal. On 21 September 2016, Maja made his professional debut in a 2–1 victory at

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 ...

in the third round of the

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 ...

, replacing

Joel Asoro Joel Joshghene Asoro (born 27 April 1999) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a striker for Djurgårdens IF. Club career Early career Asoro started his career in his local club IFK Haninge in a southern Stockholm suburb. When h ...

as a substitute for the final 21 minutes. He did not play again that season but did appear on the bench during their

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 ...

campaign, which ended in relegation. Maja made his league debut on 16 December 2017, when he came on for James Vaughan at the

Stadium of Light The Stadium of Light is an all-seater football stadium in Sunderland, England, and the eighth and current home to Sunderland A.F.C. With space for 49,000 spectators, the Stadium of Light is the ninth largest football stadium in England. ...

, going on to score his side's only goal of the match five minutes subsequently; the game resulted in Sunderland’s first home win of 2017 and against

, his former team during his youth. Manager Chris Coleman spoke positively of Maja afterwards, stating, "I've been very impressed with Josh. He's different, he gives us a big injection of personality". Maja went on to make 17 appearances in the

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 ...

that season, failing to score anymore following his goal against Fulham, with the club suffering a second consecutive relegation, now to

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 ...

. Relegation proved well personally for Maja, as he broke into the side's starting line-up; he went on to score in all of Sunderland's first four games in August, earning him a nomination for Player of the Month. With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, he was offered a contract extension, though he refused, amid reported interest from multiple clubs. His transfer saga was featured as part of the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

documentary ''

Sunderland 'Til I Die ''Sunderland 'Til I Die'' is a sports documentary series. Produced by Fulwell 73 (named as a homage to Sunderland A.F.C. by its founders), the series documents the events around English football club Sunderland A.F.C. Released on 14 December 2 ...

''. Maja went on to leave the club during the January transfer window, at the time, Maja had scored 16 goals in 30 league appearances.

Bordeaux

On 26 January 2019, Maja signed for French

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

on a four-and-a-half year contract. He made his

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

debut on 17 February in a 2–1 home

Derby de la Garonne The Derby de la Garonne (, ''Garonne Derby'') is a football match contested between French clubs FC Girondins de Bordeaux and Toulouse FC. The derby is so-named because Bordeaux and Toulouse are the two major cities in south-western France, both w ...

win over

Toulouse Toulouse ( , ; oc, Tolosa ) is the prefecture of the French department of Haute-Garonne and of the larger region of Occitania. The city is on the banks of the River Garonne, from the Mediterranean Sea, from the Atlantic Ocean and from Par ...

, starting and playing 67 minutes. On 20 April, he scored his first Ligue 1 goal in a 2–1 loss at

Nîmes Nîmes ( , ; oc, Nimes ; Latin: ''Nemausus'') is the prefecture of the Gard department in the Occitanie region of Southern France. Located between the Mediterranean Sea and Cévennes, the commune of Nîmes has an estimated population of 148,5 ...

, but suffered a first-half left-knee injury that ended his season after seven games. On 3 December 2020, again against Nîmes, Maja scored his first professional hat-trick and also provided an

assist Assist or ASSIST may refer to: Sports Several sports have a statistic known as an "assist", generally relating to action by a player leading to a score by another player on their team: *Assist (basketball), a pass by a player that facilitates a ba ...

in a 6–0 win.

Loan to Fulham

On 1 February 2021, transfer deadline day, Maja returned to English football with his former club in his youth,

, now back in the

though in a relegation battle, signing on loan for the remainder of the 2020–21 season. On 14 February, in his first start for the side, he scored both goals in a 2–0 victory at Everton.

Loan to Stoke City

On 31 January 2022, Maja joined

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 loan for the remainder of the 2021–22 season. He made his debut on 5 February 2022, scoring in a 2–0 win against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club () is an English professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, ...

in the

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 ...

. Maja made 17 appearances, for Stoke, scoring twice as they finished in 14th position.

International career

In August 2019, the Nigeria national team manager

Gernot Rohr Gernot Rohr (born 28 June 1953) is a German professional football manager and former player who was most recently the manager of the Nigerian national team. Managerial career In 1996, he managed Girondins de Bordeaux to the UEFA Cup final, whe ...

said he wanted Maja to represent the nation. He made his international debut on 10 September in a 2–2 friendly against

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

, replacing Victor Osimhen in added time.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Maja, Josh 1998 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Lewisham Citizens of Nigeria through descent English footballers Nigerian footballers Nigeria international footballers Association football forwards Sunderland A.F.C. players FC Girondins de Bordeaux players Fulham F.C. players Stoke City F.C. players English Football League players Ligue 1 players Premier League players Ligue 2 players English expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in France English expatriate sportspeople in France Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in France Black British sportspeople English people of Nigerian descent