Michael Olabode Kayode (born 10 July 2004) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a

right-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

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

Club career

Kayode started his youth career at

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

, where he remained for seven years until 2018. He played the 2020–21 season with

Serie D The Serie D () is the top level of semi-professional football in the country. The fourth tier of the Italian league system, the competition sits beneath the third professional league, Serie C. It is administered by the Lega Nazionale Dilettant ...

club Gozzano, with which he scored two goals and two assists in 34 matches, and gained promotion to

Serie C The Serie C () is the third-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie B and Serie A. The Lega Italiana Calcio Professionistico (Lega Pro) is the governing body that runs the Serie C. The unification of the Lega Pro ...

. He cited his experience in Serie D as "a step backwards to make two forwards". Kayode joined Fiorentina after his spell in Serie D in 2021 and was integrated into their youth sector. With Fiorentina, he won one Coppa Italia Primavera and one Supercoppa Italiana Primavera.

International career

Born in Italy, Kayode is of Nigerian descent. In July 2023, he decided the final of the

2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2023) was the 20th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (70th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth footb ...

, which

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 ...

won 1–0 to

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. On 17 October 2023 he made his debut with the Italy U21, in the qualifying match won 2–0 against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

Bolzano Bolzano ( or ; german: Bozen, (formerly ); bar, Bozn; lld, Balsan or ) is the capital city of the province of South Tyrol in northern Italy. With a population of 108,245, Bolzano is also by far the largest city in South Tyrol and the third la ...

Career statistics

Honours

Italy U19 *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

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

* * {{ACF Fiorentina squad 2004 births Living people People from Borgomanero Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian men's footballers Footballers from the Province of Novara Men's association football fullbacks Italy men's youth international footballers Serie A players Serie D players Juventus FC players AC Gozzano players ACF Fiorentina players