Alexander Kwabena Baidooh Djiku (born 9 August 1994) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Fenerbahçe. Born in France, he plays for the Ghana national team.

Club career

Bastia

Djiku spent his youth career at

Bastia Bastia ( , , , ; ) is a communes of France, commune in the Departments of France, department of Haute-Corse, Corsica, France. It is located in the northeast of the island of Corsica at the base of Cap Corse. It also has the second-highest popu ...

. He played for the reserve team until 2014. He made his debut in a

Coupe de la Ligue The Coupe de la Ligue (), known outside France as the French League Cup, was a knockout cup competition in French football organized by the Ligue de Football Professionnel. The tournament was established in 1993 and, unlike the Coupe de France ...

match against

Évian Evian (, ; , stylized as evian) is a French brand that bottles mineral water from several sources near Évian-les-Bains, on the south shore of Lake Geneva. Evian is owned by Danone, a French multinational corporation. In addition to the miner ...

on 18 December 2013. On 3 December 2014, he made his

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 ...

debut with the team against

Caen

On 11 July 2017, Djiku joined

side

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

on a four-year contract, Caen paid 2M€ for buy-out. On 5 August 2017, he made his debut with the team against

Montpellier Montpellier (; ) is a city in southern France near the Mediterranean Sea. One of the largest urban centres in the region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Montpellier is the prefecture of the Departments of France, department of ...

Strasbourg

In July 2019, he was acquired by fellow Ligue 1 club

Strasbourg Strasbourg ( , ; ; ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and largest city of the Grand Est Regions of France, region of Geography of France, eastern France, in the historic region of Alsace. It is the prefecture of the Bas-Rhin Departmen ...

for 4,5M€, signing a four-year contract. He made his continental debut in a 3–1

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 ...

win over

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

on 25 July 2017.

Fenerbahçe

On 10 July 2023, Djiku signed a three-year contract with

side Fenerbahçe for a free transfer. On 26 July 2023, he made his debut in the Conference League match in a 5–0 win against Zimbru at the

Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium The Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium (), known for sponsorship reasons as Ülker Stadium Fenerbahçe Şükrü Saracoğlu Sports Complex (), or simply Ülker Stadium, is a football stadium located in the Kadıköy district of Istanbul Istanbu ...

. On 13 August 2023, he made his

debut against

Gaziantep FK Gaziantep Futbol Kulübü is a Turkish professional football club based in Gaziantep. Founded in 1988, the club plays in the Süper Lig, the highest tier of Turkish football. The club was founded as Sankospor in 1988 and competed at the amateur ...

with a 2-1 home win. He scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on 28 September 2023 against

Başakşehir Başakşehir is a municipality and Districts of Turkey, district of Istanbul Province, Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 107 km2, and its population is 514,900 (2022). It is in the European part of Istanbul. The district is home to İsta ...

, netting the first goal in a 4–0 victory. In his first year, he became one of the key players who took more responsibility on the field.

International career

Djiku is of Ghanaian and French descent. He debuted with the senior Ghana national team in a 3–0 friendly loss to

Mali Mali, officially the Republic of Mali, is a landlocked country in West Africa. It is the List of African countries by area, eighth-largest country in Africa, with an area of over . The country is bordered to the north by Algeria, to the east b ...

on 9 October 2020. He played his second match for

Ghana Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It is situated along the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, and shares borders with Côte d’Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, and Togo to t ...

against

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

on 12 October 2020 in which he impressed. Djiku's third match came when he was given the opportunity by the Black Stars new head coach to start against

Zimbabwe file:Zimbabwe, relief map.jpg, upright=1.22, Zimbabwe, relief map Zimbabwe, officially the Republic of Zimbabwe, is a landlocked country in Southeast Africa, between the Zambezi and Limpopo Rivers, bordered by South Africa to the south, Bots ...

in a

World Cup qualifier The FIFA World Cup qualification is a set of competitive matches that a national association football team plays in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the men's FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments ar ...

where Ghana won 3–1. He was part of Ghana's team at the 2021 African Cup of Nations in

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and scored his first goal against

Comoros The Comoros, officially the Union of the Comoros, is an archipelagic country made up of three islands in Southeastern Africa, located at the northern end of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city is Moroni, ...

on 18 January 2022. In 2022, Djiku competed at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

. At the tournament he played in matches against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

. On December 31, 2023, he was selected from the list of 27 Ghanaian players selected by

Chris Hughton Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team. He was most recently head coach of the Ghana national te ...

to compete in the

2023 Africa Cup of Nations The 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, known in short as the 2023 AFCON or CAN 2023 and for sponsor (commercial), sponsorship purposes as the TotalEnergies 2023 Africa Cup of Nations, was the 34th edition of the biennial Africa Cup of Nations tournam ...

Personal life

Djiku is married to Heley Djiku. The couple have two children, Wesley and Elyana.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first.''

Honours

Individual *

Ghana Football Awards Ghana Football Awards is an annual award scheme organized to recognize the best Ghanaian players playing in and outside of the country and key stakeholders who contribute significantly to the game. Several category of awards are given to the most o ...

Footballer of the Year: 2022

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Djiku, Alexander 1994 births Living people Footballers from Montpellier French men's footballers Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Ligue 1 players Championnat National 3 players Süper Lig players SC Bastia players Stade Malherbe Caen players RC Strasbourg Alsace players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers Ghana men's international footballers 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players French expatriate men's footballers Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey French expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey French sportspeople of Ghanaian descent Ghanaian people of French descent 21st-century French sportsmen 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen