Theophilus Solomon (born 18 January 1996) is a Nigerian 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

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People * Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Sm ...

for Kosovan club Gjilani.

Club career

Rijeka

Born in

Kaduna Kaduna is the capital city of Kaduna State, and the former political capital of Northern Region, Nigeria, Northern Nigeria. It is located in north-western Nigeria, on the Kaduna River. It is a trade Centre and a major transportation hub as the ...

, Solomon played at Eco Football Club of

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

before joining Croatian side

Rijeka Rijeka ( , , ; also known as Fiume hu, Fiume, it, Fiume ; local Chakavian: ''Reka''; german: Sankt Veit am Flaum; sl, Reka) is the principal seaport and the third-largest city in Croatia (after Zagreb and Split). It is located in Primor ...

in June 2012. He signed his first professional contract with the club in January 2014.

Loan to Pomorac

In order to gain some senior football experience, Solomon spent the initial six months of his Rijeka contract on loan at

Druga HNL The Prva nogometna liga ( en, First football league), commonly Prva NL or 1. NL, is the second tier of the football league system in Croatia. The league was formed in 1991 with the breakup of Yugoslavia and the dissolution of the Yugoslav Second ...

side Pomorac. He appeared in nine games until the end of the 2013–14 campaign, failing to score any goals.

Loan to Zadar

In August 2014, Solomon was loaned to

Zadar Zadar ( , ; historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian: ); see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited Croatian city. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar serv ...

, alongside

Domagoj Pušić Domagoj Pušić (born 24 October 1991) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Malaysia Super League side Terengganu FC. Club career Pušić started his career playing at youth level for his hometown club Osijek, with ...

, until the end of the 2014–15 season. He scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wic ...

in the

first round First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...

of the

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup * Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup *Croatian Minute Movie Cup ...

, on 24 September, leading his team to a 5–1 away win against Zagora Unešić. On 6 December, Solomon became the youngest foreigner to score a goal in the

Prva HNL The Hrvatska nogometna liga () ( en, Croatian football league), also known as HNL or for sponsorship reasons the SuperSport HNL, is the top Croatian professional football league competition, established in 1992. Previously, it was called Prva H ...

, netting the opener in an eventual 2–5 home loss to

Lokomotiva Zagreb Nogometni klub Lokomotiva Zagreb ( en, Lokomotiva Zagreb Football Club), commonly known as Lokomotiva Zagreb or simply Lokomotiva, is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. It competes in the Croatian First Football League, the c ...

Loan to Šibenik

In July 2015, alongside his teammate David Nwolokor, Solomon was sent on a season-long loan to Šibenik. He was the team's top scorer and fourth-highest in the Druga HNL that season with a tally of 11 goals.

Loan to Istra 1961

In July 2016, Solomon went on another season-long loan, this time joining newly promoted

side Istra 1961. He finished the campaign with seven goals from 31 appearances, helping his team secure their league status.

Loan to Partizan

On 12 August 2017, Solomon was transferred to Serbian club

Partizan Partizan may refer to: Sport * JSD Partizan, a sports society from Belgrade, Serbia, which includes the following clubs: **AK Partizan, athletics ** Biciklistički Klub Partizan, cycling ** Džudo Klub Partizan, judo **FK Partizan, association fo ...

on a season-long loan with an option for a permanent transfer.

Loan to Omonia

On 30 January 2018, he was loaned to Omonia until the end of the 2017-18 season. On 10 February he scored his first goal against

Aris Limassol Aris Limassol (Greek: ''Άρης Λεμεσού'') is a Cypriot football club based in Limassol and one of the founder members of Cyprus Football Association. The club's colours are green, black and white, and their home is the Tsirion Stadium. ...

Inter Zaprešić

On 17 June 2018, Solomon was transferred to

Inter Zaprešić Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Finnish club * FK Inter Bratislava, a forme ...

as part of player-exchange deal.

International career

In mid-March 2016, Solomon was included in the 20-man Nigeria U23 squad for a friendly against the Brazil U23s scheduled for the 24th in Rio de Janeiro. He came on as a substitute for Stanley Dimgba in the second half of the match, which Nigeria won by 1–0.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Solomon, Theophilus Men's association football forwards Croatian Football League players First Football League (Croatia) players Serbian SuperLiga players Cypriot First Division players Nemzeti Bajnokság I players Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Serbia Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary Expatriate men's footballers in Albania FK Partizani Tirana players Újpest FC players AC Omonia players FK Partizan players HNK Rijeka players HNK Šibenik players NK Istra 1961 players NK Pomorac 1921 players NK Zadar players NK Inter Zaprešić players Nigeria men's youth international footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Serbia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus Nigerian men's footballers Footballers from Kaduna 1996 births Living people Qadsia SC players Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait Kuwait Premier League players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait