Blessing Eleke
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Blessing Chibuike Eleke | ||
Date of birth | 5 March 1996 | ||
Place of birth | Nigeria | ||
Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||
Position(s) | Forward | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Gençlerbirligi SK | ||
Number | 9 | ||
Youth career | |||
–2014 | Flying Sports Academy | ||
2014 | Gorica | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2014–2015 | Gorica | 37 | (15) |
2016–2017 | Olimpija Ljubljana | 43 | (10) |
2017–2018 | Ashdod | 27 | (4) |
2018–2020 | Luzern | 58 | (17) |
2020– | Beerschot | 22 | (1) |
2021– | → Gençlerbirligi SK (loan) | 9 | (3) |
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 24 November 2021 |
Blessing Eleke (born 5 March 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Gençlerbirliği S.K. on loan from K Beerschot VA in the Belgian First Division A. Before joining Luzern, Eleke had played for Gorica and Olimpija Ljubljana of the Slovenian PrvaLiga, Ashdod in Israel and Luzern in the Swiss Super League.
Professional career[]
Early life and career[]
Eleke grew up in Lagos with his three brothers and four sisters.[1] He started playing football at Flying Sports Academy in his home country, before having an unsuccessful trial at Serie A club Sassuolo.[1] Later on, he admitted that the transition from Nigeria to Europe was a difficult task to handle at the beginning.[1]
Slovenia[]
Eleke signed for Olimpija Ljubljana in January 2016 for a reported fee of €750,000.[2] On 10 April 2016, in a league fixture versus Zavrč, Olimpija's manager Nikolić reportedly called Eleke a "black idiot", for elaborately celebrating an injury-time equalizer in an eventual 1–1 draw.[3] Nikolić's contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent on 18 April 2016.,[4][5] although Eleke asked club president Milan Mandarić not to sack the manager.[6] Eleke revealed that, although he considered leaving the club, he did not want to see his coach sacked, as he did not believe in eye for an eye.[2]
Israel and Switzerland[]
In August 2017, Eleke transferred to Israeli Premier League club Ashdod for a reported fee of €800,000.[7] On 27 July 2018, Eleke signed a four-year contract with Swiss Super League club FC Luzern for a reported fee of approximately 1 million Swiss francs.[1][8] After being cleared to play for Luzern,[9] he managed to score on his debut, helping his club get past Lugano 4–2.[10]
Gençlerbirligi SK[]
On 1 September 2021, Eleke was loaned out to Turkish club Gençlerbirligi SK for the rest of the season.
Honours[]
Olimpija Ljubljana[1]
References[]
- ^ a b c d e Gutzwiller, Raphael (12 September 2018). "Blessing Eleke: Stürmer in Gottes Namen". Luzerner Zeitung (in German). Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Eleke: I Almost Quit Olimpija After Being Called 'Black Idiot'". Complete Sports Nigeria. 13 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "Olimpija Ljubljana manager keeps job after calling own player 'black idiot'". The Daily Telegraph. 12 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Predsednik NK Olimpija Milan Mandarić pojasnil razloge za prekinitev sodelovanja z Markom Nikolićem". nkolimpija.si (in Slovenian). 18 April 2016. Retrieved 11 May 2017.
- ^ "Epilog Nikolićeve neprimerne opazke: slovo od Olimpije" (in Slovenian). rtvslo.si. 18 April 2016. Retrieved 18 April 2016.
- ^ "Blessing Eleke: Olimpija forward 'begged' for coach to stay". BBC. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "Blessing Eleke zapustil Olimpijo, ki je bogatejša za milijon evrov" (in Slovenian). Sio1NET. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "Blessing Eleke wechselt zum FC Luzern" (in German). Radio Pilatus. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "FCL-Stürmer Blessing Eleke darf spielen" (in German). Radio Pilatus. 3 August 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
- ^ "Eleke trifft bei seinem Debut für den FC Luzern" (in German). rontaler. 5 August 2018. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
External links[]
- Blessing Eleke at Soccerway
- Blessing Eleke at Soccerbase
- 1996 births
- Living people
- Nigerian footballers
- Association football forwards
- Nigerian expatriate footballers
- ND Gorica players
- NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players
- Slovenian PrvaLiga players
- F.C. Ashdod players
- FC Luzern players
- K Beerschot VA players
- Israeli Premier League players
- Swiss Super League players
- Belgian First Division A players
- Expatriate footballers in Slovenia
- Expatriate footballers in Israel
- Expatriate footballers in Switzerland
- Expatriate footballers in Belgium
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland
- Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium
- Nigerian football forward stubs