Aaron Leya Iseka (born 15 November 1997) is a Belgian 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 striker for

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

. He made his professional debut at

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, and also represented Zulte Waregem in the

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

. He featured for several years in the French

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

with

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

and

Metz Metz ( , , , then ) is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle (river), Moselle and the Seille (Moselle), Seille rivers. Metz is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Moselle (department), Moselle Departments ...

, as well as having top-flight spells in Israel and

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

with

OFI Crete OFI Football Club (, ''Heraklion Sportsmen Club 1925 FC''), commonly referred to as OFI, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, on the island of Crete. It is part of the O.F.I. (sports club), OFI mul ...

, and playing second-tier football in

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

Club career

Anderlecht

Leya Iseka is a youth exponent from

. In the

2013–14 UEFA Youth League The 2013–14 UEFA Youth League was the first season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. It was contested by the under-19 youth teams of the 32 clubs qualified for the group stage of the 2013–14 ...

, aged 15 in an under-19 tournament, he scored four goals in six games of a group-stage elimination, including 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 Wick ...

on 3 October in a 4–2 home win over

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

. The following season, he scored nine times in seven UEFA Youth League games, second only to Chelsea's

Dominic Solanke Dominic Ayodele Solanke-Mitchell (born 14 September 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Tottenham Hotspur and the England national team. Solanke started his career with Chelsea, making his first-team ...

. This included another hat-trick on 18 March 2015 in a 5–0 home win over

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

in the quarter-finals. That same month, he was given his first professional contract, for five years. He made his first team debut on 3 December 2014, in a

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

7th-round game against K.R.C. Mechelen, replacing Cyriac after 75 minutes in a 4–1 home win. He scored his first goal on 21 January 2015 in the second leg of the quarter-finals, a 4–2 (7–2 aggregate) win over Zulte Waregem. On 22 March he was an unused substitute in the 2015 Belgian Cup Final, a 2–1 loss to

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

at the

King Baudouin Stadium The King Baudouin Stadium ( ; ) is a sports ground in Brussels, Belgium. Located in the north-western district of the City of Brussels, it was built to embellish the Heysel/Heizel Plateau in view of the 1935 Brussels International Exposition ...

. He made nine appearances that season in the

, the first being on 18 January when he replaced

Andy Najar Andy Ariel Najar Rodríguez ( ; ; born 16 March 1993) is a Honduran professional footballer who plays as a right-back for MLS club Nashville SC and the Honduras national team. Early life Najar moved with his family from Honduras to the Un ...

for the last six minutes of a 3–0 win over Lierse S.K. at the

Constant Vanden Stock Stadium The Constant Vanden Stock Stadium (; ), also known as the Lotto Park for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in the municipality of Anderlecht in Brussels, Belgium. It is home to R.S.C. Anderlecht. It also hosted the UEFA Euro 1972 semi ...

Loans

On 23 July 2016, Leya Iseka joined

on a season-long loan, a month after his brother

Michy Batshuayi Michy Batshuayi-Atunga (born 2 October 1993) is a Belgian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Bundesliga club Eintracht Frankfurt and the Belgium national football team, Belgium ...

had left the club. However, he returned to Belgium at the start of January 2017 to find a new club he could be loaned out to, after Marseille announced they would not keep him; he was expected to join

Mouscron Mouscron (; Dutch language, Dutch and , ; Picard language, Picard and Walloon language, Walloon: ''Moucron'') is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality and City status in Belgium, city of Wallonia located in the Belgium, Belgian Hainaut Provinc ...

but nothing came of it. He did not score in nine total matches for ''OM'', but did feature and score more frequently for the reserves in CFA ( fourth tier). Leya Iseka was loaned to fellow top-flight team Zulte-Waregem for the season on 21 June 2017. On 22 July, he made his debut in the 2017 Belgian Super Cup, a 2–1 loss to his parent club, replacing

Nill De Pauw Nill De Pauw (, born 6 January 1990) is a Congolese professional footballer who plays as a winger. A former youth international for Belgium, De Pauw represents the DR Congo national team. International career De Pauw was born in Zaire to a Be ...

for the final 11 minutes. He scored his first goal in a professional league on 5 August, a penalty in a 2–0 home win over Sint-Truidense. In the club's

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

campaign, he scored twice in five matches, including a late winner in a 3–2 victory over

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

at the

Regenboogstadion The Elindus Arena, formerly named the Regenboogstadion (; "Rainbow Stadium"), is a stadium in Waregem, Belgium. It is currently used mostly for football (soccer), football matches and is the home ground of S.V. Zulte-Waregem. The stadium was orig ...

Toulouse

On 29 June 2018, Leya Iseka returned to Ligue 1, joining

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

for four seasons. He made his debut on 10 August in the season opener away to his former club Marseille, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 loss at the

Stade Vélodrome The Stade Vélodrome (), known for sponsorship reasons as the Orange Vélodrome since June 2016, is a multi-purpose stadium in Marseille, France. It is home to the Olympique de Marseille football club of Ligue 1 since it opened in 1937, and has ...

. Nine days later he scored his first goal for the club to open a 2–1 win over

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

at the

Stadium de Toulouse Stadium de Toulouse, previously named Stadium Municipal, is the largest multi-purpose stadium in Toulouse, France. It is currently used mostly for football matches, mainly those of the Toulouse Football Club, as well as rugby matches for Stade ...

. On 30 September, he was sent off in the first half of a 1–1 draw at

Rennes Rennes (; ; Gallo language, Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in Northwestern France at the confluence of the rivers Ille and Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the Brittany (administrative region), Brittany Regions of F ...

for dissent, and suspended for three matches. On 29 October 2020, Leya Iseka was loaned to fellow top-flight team

for the season.

Barnsley

Leya Iseka signed for

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

club

Barnsley Barnsley () is a market town in South Yorkshire, England. It is the main settlement of the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley and the fourth largest settlement in South Yorkshire. The town's population was 71,422 in 2021, while the wider boroug ...

on 2 August 2021 on a four-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He scored three goals in 37 games in his first season, which ended in relegation. Having played only once at the start of the new campaign under manager Michael Duff, who criticised his attitude to training, Leya Iseka joined

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

in the

TFF First League The TFF 1. Lig (), currently referred to as Trendyol 1. Lig for sponsorship reasons, is the second level of the Turkish football league system. The league was founded in 2001 as the ''Turkish Second League Category A'' after the reorganization ...

on 8 September 2022. After being loaned to

Tuzlaspor Beykoz Anadolu Spor Kulübü A.Ş. is a Turkish professional football club based in Beykoz, Istanbul Province. They play in the TFF Second League. The club plays in black and yellow kits. History The club was founded as ''Tuzlaspor'' in 1954. ...

in the same league, Leya Iseka signed for

Hapoel Hadera F.C. Hapoel Hadera–Giv'at Olga "Shulem Schwarz" F.C. () is an Israeli association football, football club from Hadera. They currently play in the Israeli Premier League, and have previously spent eight seasons in the top division. History The club w ...

of the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

on 21 September 2023, on a deal with a recall clause for January. Two days later he made his debut and scored a penalty after five minutes, albeit in a 2–1 home loss to

Hapoel Haifa Hapoel Haifa Football Club (, ''Moadon HaKaduregel Hapoel Haifa'') is an Israeli professional football club located in the city of Haifa. The club won one championship (1998–99) and 4 Israeli cups (1962–63, 1965–66 and 1973–74, 2 ...

. Having already experienced a major earthquake in Turkey at the start of the year, he left Israel after his second match due to the start of the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

OFI Crete

On 29 January 2024, Barnsley used their recall clause for Leya Iseka's loan in Israel to facilitate a permanent transfer to

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

. He scored on his debut two days later, as a substitute in a 3–1 loss to

Panetolikos Panetolikos Football Club (), or with its full name officially romanized as Panaitolikós Gymnastikós Filekpaideftikós Sýllogos (''; Pan- Aetolian Gymnastic and Educational Club''), is a Greek professional football club. It is based in Agrini ...

in the quarter-finals of the

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

, and added his first league goals on 19 February as a brace in a 4–0 home win over

Panserraikos Panserraikos Football Club (), the ''All-Serres Football Club'', is a Greece, Greek Association football, football club based in Serres in Central Macedonia, Greece. Panserraikos is one of the most important and well-supported clubs in northern G ...

. During his stay with OFI Crete, Iseka played in 16 matches, scoring 5 goals. In August 2024, he was sold to

in Bulgaria for over 1 million euros, with the total transfer fee, including bonuses, expected to reach 1.2 million euros. OFI Crete also secured a 10% resale clause as part of the deal.

Personal life

Leya Iseka is the younger brother of Belgian international striker

, but bears the surname of their mother rather than their father. Aged 12, he suffered from

Osgood–Schlatter disease Osgood–Schlatter disease (OSD) is inflammation of the patellar ligament at the tibial tuberosity (apophysitis) usually affecting adolescents during growth spurts. It is characterized by a painful bump just below the knee that is worse with act ...

, which affects the knee in adolescence, and had to take a break from football for several months.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Leya Iseka, Aaron 1997 births Footballers from Brussels Belgian sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent Black Belgian sportspeople 21st-century Belgian sportsmen Living people Belgian men's footballers Belgium men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football forwards R.S.C. Anderlecht players Olympique de Marseille players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Toulouse FC players FC Metz players Barnsley F.C. players Adanaspor footballers Tuzlaspor players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players PFC CSKA Sofia players First Professional Football League (Bulgaria) players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Ligue 2 players English Football League players TFF 1. Lig players Israeli Premier League players Super League Greece players Belgian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Belgian expatriate sportspeople in France Belgian expatriate sportspeople in England Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Belgian expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria