Emmanuel Ekong (born 25 June 2002) is a Swedish 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 lea ...

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) ** Smal ...

for

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

club

Malmö FF Malmö Fotbollförening (), commonly known simply as Malmö FF or MFF, is a Swedish professional football club based in Malmö, Scania. They compete in the Allsvenskan, the top division of Swedish football, and play home matches at the Eleda S ...

. Born in Italy to Nigerian parents, he represented Sweden at youth international level.

Club career

As a youth player, Ekong joined the youth academy of Swedish seventh tier side

Bollstanäs SK Bollstanäs SK is a Swedish professional football club located in Upplands Väsby in Stockholm County. Background Bollstanäs Sportklubb was formed in May 1922 and is one of the largest sports clubs in the Greater Stockholm area running a total ...

. in 2015, he joined the youth academy of

IF Brommapojkarna Idrottsföreningen Brommapojkarna, more commonly known as Brommapojkarna (meaning ''the Bromma boys'') or simply BP, is a Swedish association football, football club based in the borough of Bromma, in the western parts of Stockholm municipality ...

in the Swedish second tier. In 2018, he joined the youth academy of Italian

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Empoli Empoli () is a town and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Florence, Tuscany, Italy, about southwest of Florence, to the south of the Arno River, Arno in a plain formed by the river. The plain has been usable for agriculture since Ancient Ro ...

. On 5 September 2022, Ekong debuted for

during a 2–2 draw with

Salernitana Unione Sportiva Salernitana 1919 is an Italian professional football club based in Salerno, Campania. The original club was founded in 1919 and has been reconstituted three times in the course of its history, most recently in 2011. The current ...

. In January 2023, Ekong signed for

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

club

Perugia Perugia ( , ; ; ) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber. The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part of the valleys around the area. It has 162,467 ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 8 September 2023, Ekong joined Croatian side Istra 1961 on loan until the end of the season, with an option to buy. On 8 January 2025,

announced Ekong's signing.

International career

Born in Italy to Nigerian parents and raised in Sweden, Ekong is eligible to represent Nigeria, Italy and Sweden. He has represented the Swedish under-19 national team five times, scoring one goal.

Personal life

Ekong is the son of Nigeria international

Prince Ikpe Ekong Prince Ikpe Ekong (born 5 October 1978) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He is best remembered for representing Reggiana, Shenyang Ginde, Xiamen Lanshi, GAIS, and Djurgårdens IF during his career. A full ...

References

External links

* * Living people 2002 births Footballers from Reggio Emilia Swedish men's footballers Sweden men's youth international footballers Italian men's footballers Swedish people of Nigerian descent Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian emigrants to Sweden Men's association football forwards Serie A players Serie B players Allsvenskan players Empoli FC players AC Perugia Calcio players NK Istra 1961 players Malmö FF players Swedish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Swedish expatriate sportspeople in Croatia 21st-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Swedish sportsmen Sweden men's under-21 international footballers {{Sweden-footy-forward-stub