Kelede Nathan Oduwa (born 5 March 1996) 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 winger. He has represented England at the under-17, under-18, and

under-20 Junior is a category of athletics in which athletes compete under the age of 20 years. Countries all around the world compete in athletics. World Junior Athletics Competitions are held every two years which contain the best junior competitors in ...

levels, and Nigeria at the under-23 level.

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Born in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...

, Greater London, Oduwa joined

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

at the age of 11 and progressed through the club's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team in the future if ...

, signing his first professional contract in July 2012. He played for the club's under-18 team, making 24 appearances and scoring 10 goals during the 2013–14 season. Oduwa was promoted to the under-21 team for the subsequent season, scoring four goals. On 2 February 2015, Oduwa joined

League Two The English Football League Two (often referred to as League Two for short or Sky Bet League Two for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League Two from 2004 until 2016) is the third and lowest division of the English Football Lea ...

club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

loan In finance, a loan is the lending of money by one or more individuals, organizations, or other entities to other individuals, organizations, etc. The recipient (i.e., the borrower) incurs a debt and is usually liable to pay interest on that d ...

until the end of the 2014–15 season. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, the league is the oldest such competition in the world. It was the top-level football league in Engla ...

debut on 7 February as a 59th-minute substitute for

Shaun Whalley Shaun James Whalley (born 7 August 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for League Two club Accrington Stanley. Born in Prescot, Merseyside, Whalley played for Norwich City and Southport as a youth before making his ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club is a professional football club in the city of Oxford, England. The team plays in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The chairman is Grant Ferguson, the manager is Karl Robinson and th ...

at the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United Football Club, and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium currently hosts League One (third t ...

. He completed the loan spell with 11 appearances for Luton, eight of which came as a substitute. On 13 August 2015, Oduwa, alongside Spurs teammate,

Dominic Ball Dominic Martin Ball (born 2 August 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays for Ipswich Town. He plays primarily as a defensive midfielder but can also play as a centre-back or at full-back. Club career Tottenham and loan moves A ...

, signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship, known as the cinch Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional football clubs in Scotland Scotland (, ...

club Rangers on season-long loans. He debuted three days later as a 61st-minute substitute for

Barrie McKay Barrie McKay (born 30 December 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker or as a winger for Heart of Midlothian. McKay has previously played for Rangers, Greenock Morton, Raith Rovers, Nottingham Forest, Swansea Cit ...

in a 5–1 away win over

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. Formed as Alloa in 1880, the football club shortly changed its name to Alloa Association, and then to Alloa Ath ...

. During the match, he sparked controversy by performing a rainbow flick, which an Alloa defender called "disrespectful". Oduwa scored his first goal for the Ibrox club in a 4–0 home win over

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; also sco, Dumbairton; ) is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. In 2006, it had an estimated population of 19,990. Dumbarton was the ca ...

on 1 December. By late October, he had managed four assists, as well as winning several penalties. However, as Rangers sought more permanent options in Oduwa's position, his loan spell was cut short, and he returned to Tottenham Hotspur on 17 January 2016. On 26 February 2016, Oduwa signed for

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

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its earl ...

on a one-month loan. He made only two appearances for the club, both of which were as a substitute. On 31 August 2016, Oduwa joined League One club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is an English professional football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Peterborough have a long-standing ...

on loan until 2 January 2017. He made his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw at home to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team currently competes in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. The club has played home matches at ...

on 3 September. Peterborough manager

Grant McCann Grant Samuel McCann (born 14 April 1980) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder in the Football League. He was most recently the manager of EFL League One club Peterborough United. Born in ...

confirmed that Oduwa returned to Tottenham on 1 January, having made nine substitute appearances.

Olimpija Ljubljana

On 14 February 2017, Oduwa signed for

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga ( sl, Prva slovenska nogometna liga, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Football in Slovenia, Slovenian football league system. ...

club Olimpija Ljubljana on a three-year contract. He debuted on 25 February in a 1–0 defeat away to

Maribor Maribor ( , , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is also the seat of the City Municipality of Maribor, th ...

. Oduwa left the club on 22 July 2018, after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Vejle Boldklub

On 28 September 2018,

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six t ...

announced the signing of Oduwa on a three-year contract. On 17 December 2018, Vejle and Oduwa agreed to terminate the players contract before time.

Hapoel Hadera

On 30 January 2019, Oduwa signed for the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League ( he, ליגת העל, ''Ligat Ha`Al'', ), is a professional association football league which operates as the highest division of the Israeli Football League – the state's league of Israel. The league is contested b ...

club Hapoel Hadera.

Dundalk

On 10 March 2020, Oduwa signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Premier Division ( ga, Príomhroinn Sraith na hÉireann), also known as the SSE Airtricity League Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is the top level division in both the League of Ireland and the Republic of Ireland f ...

champions

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ga, Dún Dealgan ), meaning "the fort of Dealgan", is the county town (the administrative centre) of County Louth, Ireland. The town is on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the east coast of Ireland. It is h ...

Shamakhi

On 3 February 2022,

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League ( az, Azərbaycan Premyer Liqası) is a professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Azerbaijan football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. It is conteste ...

club Keşla announced the signing of Oduwa on a contract until the end of the 2021–22 season. On 6 April 2022, Keşla FK changed their name to Shamakhi FK.

Turan Tovuz

On 30 June 2023,

Turan Tovuz Turan Tovuz ( az, Turan Tovuz) is an Azerbaijani association football, football club based in Tovuz, Azerbaijan, Tovuz. The club won the Azerbaijan Premier League, Azerbaijan championship once, in 1994–1995. The club's home stadium is Tovuz City ...

announced the departure of Oduwa after his contract had expired.

International career

Oduwa has represented England at multiple youth levels. In September 2015, he was named in the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s), represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the governing body for football in Eng ...

squad. On 24 March 2016, Oduwa debuted for Nigeria U23 in a friendly match against Brazil U23, where he replaced

Imoh Ezekiel Imoh Ezekiel (born 24 October 1993) is a Nigerian footballer who plays as a striker. He is also a Nigerian international. Club career He joined Standard Liège in January 2012, making his debut on 19 February 2012, coming on as an 85th-minute ...

in the final minutes of the match. Oduwa was part of Nigeria U23 team at the Suwon Invitational Tournament in preparation for the

Rio 2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...

Style of play

Oduwa mainly plays as a left winger, although he is also capable of playing on the right wing. He has a very direct play style, and uses pace,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. A ...

, and tricks (such as the '' rainbow flick'') to beat opposing defenders. He provides assists with his balls in from wide positions, and also draws a lot of fouls.

Career statistics

Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana *

: 2017–18 *

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17 Dundalk *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Extra.ie FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as Derry ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oduwa, Nathan 1996 births Living people Footballers from Greater London People from Bloomsbury Footballers from the London Borough of Camden Citizens of Nigeria through descent Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's youth international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen Men's association football wingers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Vejle Boldklub players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Danish Superliga players Israeli Premier League players League of Ireland players English expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ireland