Memeh Caleb Okoli (born 13 July 2001) is an Italian 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 club

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

Club career

Okoli joined the youth teams of Atalanta in the summer of 2015 and started playing for their Under-19 squad in the 2018–19 season. He was occasionally called up to Atalanta's senior team in that season and the next, but never appeared on the field. He also represented the club in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League. On 25 September 2020, he joined

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

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

on loan. He made his Serie B debut for SPAL on 21 November 2020 in a game against

Pescara Pescara (; ; ) is the capital city of the province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo Regions of Italy, region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 118,657 (January 1, 2023) residents (and approximately 350,000 including the surround ...

. He started and played the full game in a 2–0 victory. He grabbed his first ever career goal on 10 April 2021 in a Serie B game, which was in a 1–2 away win against Leece, where he scored the winner in the 54th minute. On 12 July 2021, he joined Serie B club

Cremonese Cremona ( , , ; ; ) is a city and (municipality) in northern Italy, situated in Lombardy, on the left bank of the Po (river), Po river in the middle of the Po Valley. It is the capital of the province of Cremona and the seat of the local city a ...

on a season-long loan. Okoli returned to Atalanta in July 2022, after his loan ended, and was integrated into Atalanta's first team for the following season. He made his Serie A debut with Atalanta on 13 August 2022 in a 2–0 victory over

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

. On 1 September 2023, Okoli moved to newly promoted Serie A club

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

on a season-long loan.

Leicester City

On 9 July 2024, Okoli signed for newly promoted

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 ...

club

on a five-year deal. Okoli made his competitive debut for the club on 1 September 2024 in a 1–2 home defeat to

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

. He then grabbed his first-ever Premier League goal on 12 April 2025 in a 2–2 away draw to

Brighton Brighton ( ) is a seaside resort in the city status in the United Kingdom, city of Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, south of London. Archaeological evidence of settlement in the area dates back to the Bronze Age Britain, Bronze Age, R ...

International career

Born in Italy to parents of Nigerian origin, Okoli is

Igbo Igbo may refer to: * Igbo people, an ethnic group of Nigeria * Igbo language, their language * anything related to Igboland, a cultural region in Nigeria See also * Ibo (disambiguation) * Igbo mythology * Igbo music * Igbo art * * Igbo-Ukwu, a t ...

and Yoruba by descent. He was first called up to represent Italy in 2019 with the Italy U19 side. He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 7 September 2021, playing as a starter in the

qualifying Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

match won 1–0 against

Montenegro , image_flag = Flag of Montenegro.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Montenegro.svg , coa_size = 80 , national_motto = , national_anthem = () , image_map = Europe-Mont ...

. He was called up to the senior Italy squad for

2024–25 UEFA Nations League The 2024–25 UEFA Nations League is the fourth season of the UEFA Nations League tournament, an international association football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA. The competition is being held f ...

matches against

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

on 6 and 9 September 2024, respectively.

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the Atalanta B.C. website
Profile
at the Leicester City F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Okoli, Caleb Living people 2001 births Footballers from Vicenza Italian men's footballers Men's association football defenders Atalanta BC players SPAL players US Cremonese players Frosinone Calcio players Leicester City F.C. players Serie A players Serie B players Italy men's youth international footballers Italian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian people of Nigerian descent 21st-century Italian sportsmen