Ayodele "Dele" Adeleye (born 25 December 1988) is a Nigerian former 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 played 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 ...

Club career

Adeleye is a defender who was born in

Lagos Lagos ( ; ), or Lagos City, is a large metropolitan city in southwestern Nigeria. With an upper population estimated above 21 million dwellers, it is the largest city in Nigeria, the most populous urban area on the African continent, and on ...

and made his debut in professional football as part of the Shooting Stars FC squad before joining Sparta Rotterdam. Reports had linked him to English

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

clubs Everton,

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

and

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. After Sparta's relegation Adeleye went to

FC Metalurh Donetsk Football Club Metalurh Donetsk (, ) was a Ukrainian professional football club based in Donetsk that went bankrupt in July 2015. History Club predecessor Football came to the Donetsk region in the time of the Russian Empire when the industr ...

on a free transfer in June 2010. On 2 September 2011: Tavria have officially announced the signing of two Nigerian international players – Dele Adeleye and Sani Kaita- through a statement on their official website, FC Tavria, Dele Adeleye, in the Nigeria squad for two live-wire games against Madagascar on Sunday, comes from Donetsk Metallurg, where he scored three goals in 26 appearances from central defense. In August 2013, Adeleye signed for

Anzhi Makhachkala Football Club Anzhi Makhachkala (, ), known simply as FC Anji, was a Russian professional football club based in the Dagestani capital of Makhachkala. Founded in 1991, the club last competed in the third-tier Russian Football National League 2. ...

. In January 2014 Adeleye moved to Greek side

Ergotelis Ergotelis Football Club () is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Heraklion, Crete, which competes in the Heraklion Football Clubs Association, FCA Heraklion A1, the fourth tier of the Greek football league system, ...

on a Five-month contract, with the option of another year. In February 2015, Adeleye signed a two-year-contract with

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

side

FC Aktobe Football Club Aktobe (), commonly referred to as FC Aktobe or simply Aktobe, is a professional association football, football club based in Aktobe. They last played in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Ka ...

. Following the conclusion of the 2015 season, Adeleye was transfer listed by Aktobe. On 20 February 2018, after two years of free agency, he joined Russian club

FC SKA-Khabarovsk Football Club SKA-Khabarovsk () is a Russian professional association football club based in Khabarovsk which plays in the second-tier Russian First League. They played in the Russian Premier League for the first time ever in the 2017–18 seaso ...

. He only made two appearances for the club, before leaving again as the club were relegated

Russian First League The Russian First League (, Pervaya liga), formerly called Russian First Division () and Russian Football National League (FNL) () is the second level of the Football in Russia#League system, Russian football league system. The Russian Professio ...

and eventually retired from football.

International career

A tall central defender, Adeleye caught the eye of Sparta when playing 3 matches for the Nigeria U-20 at the 2005 FIFA Youth World Cup in the Netherlands. He made his first senior cap in a friendly against

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

on 29 May 2009.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

*
Player profile
– Sparta Rotterdam

– Voetbal international {{DEFAULTSORT:Adeleye, Dele 1988 births Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan Men's association football defenders Shooting Stars S.C. players Sparta Rotterdam players FC Metalurh Donetsk players SC Tavriya Simferopol players FC Anzhi Makhachkala players Ergotelis F.C. players OFI Crete F.C. players FC Aktobe players FC SKA-Khabarovsk players Eredivisie players Ukrainian Premier League players Russian Premier League players Super League Greece players Kazakhstan Premier League players Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2008 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Nigeria Olympic silver medalists for Nigeria Footballers from Lagos 2010 FIFA World Cup players Olympic medalists in football Medalists at the 2008 Summer Olympics Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Russia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Greece Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan FC Kuban Krasnodar players Nigeria men's international footballers 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen