Oluwaferanmi Joshua Chibuzo Oluwayemi (born 13 March 2001) is an English 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

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for Finnish

Veikkausliiga Veikkausliiga (; sv, Tipsligan) is the premier division of Finnish football, the highest tier of the Finnish football league structure, comprising the top 12 clubs of the country. Its main sponsor is the Finnish national betting agency Veikka ...

club

Lahti Lahti (; sv, Lahtis) is a city and municipality in Finland. It is the capital of the region of Päijänne Tavastia (Päijät-Häme) and its growing region is one of the main economic hubs of Finland. Lahti is situated on a bay at the southern e ...

Club career

Born in

Waltham Forest The London Borough of Waltham Forest () is a London borough in north-east London, England. Its population is estimated to be 276,983 in 2019. It borders five other London boroughs: Enfield to the north-west, Haringey to the west, Hackney to t ...

, Oluwayemi joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosop ...

at the age of 10, subsequently coming through the club's youth ranks. In October 2020, he started his senior career by moving on loan to

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team ...

club

Maidenhead United Maidenhead United Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Maidenhead, Berkshire, England. They are currently members of and have played at York Road since 1871, making it the 'oldest senior football ground continuously ...

until January 2021. In the summer of 2022, he was released by Tottenham, without having made any appearances for Spurs. Following a successful trial at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, on 19 July 2022 Oluwayemi joined the EFL League One club on a permanent deal, signing a one-year contract, with an option for another season. 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 for Pompey on 14 January 2023, starting in a 3–0 away loss against Bolton Wanderers. On 31 July 2023, Oluwayemi signed for National League South club

Chelmsford City Chelmsford City Football Club is a semi-professional football club based in Chelmsford, Essex, England. Currently members of they play at the Melbourne Stadium. History Chelmsford Chelmsford Football Club was established in 1878 by members of ...

on loan. In November 2023, following an injury, Oluwayemi returned to Portsmouth early. On 11 January 2024, after 9 appearances for Portsmouth, Oluwayemi joined Finnish

club

on a one-year contract.

International career

Thanks to his

dual citizenship Multiple/dual citizenship (or multiple/dual nationality) is a legal status in which a person is concurrently regarded as a national or citizen of more than one country under the laws of those countries. Conceptually, citizenship is focused on ...

, Oluwayemi can choose to represent either England or Nigeria internationally. Oluwayemi has represented England at under-15 and under-16 level. In July 2021, Oluwayemi was called up to the senior

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

side for a friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

Personal life

Oluwayemi has a younger brother,

Tobi ToBI (; an abbreviation of tones and break indices) is a set of conventions for transcribing and annotating the prosody of speech. The term "ToBI" is sometimes used to refer to the conventions used for describing American English specifically, whic ...

(b. 2003), who also plays as a goalkeeper: he similarly played for Tottenham's youth academy, before joining

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

in the summer of 2019, and represented England at various youth international levels.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Oluwayemi, Josh 2001 births Living people Footballers from the London Borough of Waltham Forest English men's footballers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Maidenhead United F.C. players Chelmsford City F.C. players Portsmouth F.C. players FC Lahti players English Football League players National League (English football) players Men's association football goalkeepers England men's youth international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Finland English expatriate sportspeople in Finland