Daniel Amartey (born 21 December 1994) is a Ghanaian 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 most recently played as a defender or

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

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

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

and the Ghana national team. He is currently a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

. A graduate of International Allies'

youth academy In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, Amartey played for

Djurgården Djurgården ( or ) or, more officially, , is an island in central Stockholm, Sweden. Djurgården is home to historical buildings and monuments, museums, galleries, the amusement park Gröna Lund, the open-air museum Skansen, the small resident ...

and

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

, before joining

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 ...

in 2016.

Club career

Djurgårdens IF

Amartey started out playing for second-tier club International Allies in Ghana where he was spotted as a sixteen-year-old by

Magnus Pehrsson Karl Magnus Pehrsson (born 25 May 1976) is a Swedish Association football, football manager and former professional player who is the Director of Football at Spanish club Vélez CF. Club career Pehrsson started his career in IFK Lidingö. He p ...

who was on a scouting trip in

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

during his preparation to take over as manager of

Djurgårdens IF Djurgårdens Idrottsförening, commonly known simply as Djurgårdens IF, Djurgården (), and (especially locally) Djurgår'n (), Dif or DIF – is a Swedish sports association with several sections, located in Stockholm. Djurgårdens IF is an s ...

. When Pehrsson became manager he secured the transfer rights for Amartey from the day he turned 18. To help prepare Amartey for his future permanent move to

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

in 2013, the club brought him over for shorter periods of time in both 2011 and 2012 where he got to play for the club's U21 team. Amartey made his

Svenska Cupen Svenska cupen (, ), also known as the Swedish Cup in English, is a knockout cup competition in Swedish football and the main Swedish football cup. ''Svenska cupen'' usually refers to the men's tournament, although a women's tournament is also ...

debut on 3 March 2013 against

Umeå FC Umeå FC is a Swedish professional football club located in Umeå, Sweden. The club, formed in 1987, is currently playing in the third tier of the Swedish league, Ettan. The club is affiliated to the Västerbottens Fotbollförbund. Season to se ...

. He then made his league debut in the

2013 Allsvenskan The 2013 Allsvenskan, part of the 2013 Swedish football season, was the 89th season of Allsvenskan since its establishment in 1924. The 2013 fixtures were released on 14 December 2012. The season started on 31 March 2013 and ended on 3 November 2 ...

opening game away against

Helsingborgs IF Helsingborgs Idrottsförening, commonly referred to as Helsingborgs IF, Helsingborg or (especially locally) HIF (), is a Swedish professional football club located in Helsingborg. They play in the Swedish second tier, Superettan, following releg ...

on 31 March. Amartey was praised by the media for his strong start to the 2013 season, and foreign clubs like

FC Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, ...

and

1. FC Kaiserslautern 1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK (), FC Kaiserslautern (), K'lautern or colloquially Lautern (), is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to Association football, football ...

started to scout him. On 26 May 2013, he scored his first ever goal for the club when he headed home the 1–1 equalizer in the 2013 Svenska Cupen Final which Djurgården eventually lost against

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

on penalties. After his first season in the Swedish league as an eighteen-year-old Amartey was ranked as the 10th-best player in the league by newspaper

Expressen (''The Express'') is one of two nationwide evening newspapers in Sweden. Describing itself as independent liberal, was founded in 1944; its symbol is a wasp and its slogans are "it stings" or " to your rescue". The newspaper awards the cultu ...

and 18th best by

Aftonbladet (, lit. "The evening paper") is a Swedish language, Swedish daily tabloid newspaper published in Stockholm, Sweden. It is one of the largest daily newspapers in the Nordic countries. History and profile The newspaper was founded by Lar ...

. In November 2013 Amartey confirmed that he was in talks with

Liverpool F.C. Liverpool Football Club is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Liverpool, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founded in ...

over a possible move to the English club.

Copenhagen

In July 2014, Amartey moved to F.C. Copenhagen for a fee of €2.5 million plus add-ons, and made his Superliga-debut on 20 July 2014, in a match against

Silkeborg IF Silkeborg Idrætsforening, (; commonly known as Silkeborg IF or SIF in short) is a professional football club based in Silkeborg, Denmark. The club was founded in 1917, reached the highest level of Danish football in 1987, and afterwards became ...

Leicester City

On 22 January 2016, Amartey joined

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 ...

side

on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee around the region of up to £6 million. In his first season in his new country, Amartey featured five times as his team Leicester City won the Premier League title. He made his debut for the club on 27 February 2016, in 1–0 home league win over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. In the 2016–17 season, Amartey became a first team regular following the departure of N'Golo Kanté. partnering teammate

Danny Drinkwater Daniel Noel Drinkwater (born 5 March 1990) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a midfielder. Having come through the youth academy at Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, he spent time on loan ...

in the central midfield role. While his workrate roughly equalled Kanté's, he has been unable to match his tackles and interceptions. On 14 September 2016, Amartey started in his Champions League debut for Leicester in a 3–0 away win over

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 ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

. Amartey scored his first goal for Leicester in an 88th-minute equaliser away at

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on 17 December 2016, salvaging a 2–2 draw. On 8 February 2017, just over 12 hours after returning to Leicester from international duty, Amartey played 120 minutes (including AET) in a 3–1

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

fourth-round replay win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

. In October 2018, Amartey broke his ankle in a game against

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 ...

, ruling him out for the rest of the 2018–19 season. Out of action for nearly a year, the closest Amartey came to a first team return was making the bench for an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

match against

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

in September 2019. He made his first team return almost two years after his injury in an

match against

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

on 23 September 2020, which Leicester lost 2–0. Four days later he made his Premier League return when he started away at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in a 5–2 win. On 18 February 2021, Amartey started in his

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 ...

debut for Leicester in a 0–0 away draw against

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

in the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 tie. On 6 March 2021, Amartey scored his first goal for the Foxes in over four years, heading in a late winner to seal a 2–1 away league win over

Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton & Hove Albion Football Club, commonly referred to as Brighton, is a professional football club based in Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. Their home gr ...

. On 15 May 2021, following Leicester City's

FA Cup final The FA Cup Final is the last match in the FA Cup, Football Association Challenge Cup. It has regularly been one of the List of sports attendance figures, most attended domestic football events in the world, with an official attendance of 89,472 ...

victory over Chelsea, Amartey was filmed picking up a Chelsea pennant in the Leicester dressing room and throwing it over his shoulder to the floor in a video that went viral. He received criticism and backlash from many social media users, who deemed the gesture disrespectful. Leicester City later issued an apology to Chelsea, who accepted. Amartey and Leicester started the 2021–22 season with the 2021 FA Community Shield against

. Amartey played the full match as Iheanacho scored the winning goal, an 89th-minute penalty against his former club. On 5 June 2023, following the club's relegation from the

, it was announced that Amartey and six other first team players would be leaving the club upon the expiration of their contracts at the end of the month.

Beşiktaş

On 21 July 2023, Amartey signed a contract with

club

. On 13 September 2024, Amartey's contract has been terminated with Beşiktaş for an undisclosed reason.

International career

In May 2012 Amartey made his debut for the

Ghana national under-20 football team Ghana national U-20 football team known as the ''Black Satellites'', is considered to be the feeder team for the Ghana national football team. They are the former 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup, FIFA U-20 World Cup Champions and U-20 Africa Cup ...

in a game against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was also selected to play in the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

but Djurgården wanted to keep him in Sweden since the tournament clashed with the

season. In January 2015, Amartey played in all the group matches 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 ...

at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where the Black Stars finished as runners-up. He played six times at the

2017 Africa Cup of Nations The 2017 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2017 or CAN 2017), known as the Total 2017 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 31st edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's football champions ...

, lasting 90 minutes in every match to help Ghana finish fourth in the tournament. His performances saw him named in the CAF Team of the tournament. Amartey featured in the 2021 Africa 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 ...

whom the Ghana national team was eliminated in the early stage of the competition.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Copenhagen *

Danish Superliga The Danish Superliga (, ) is a professional association football league in Denmark and the highest level of the Danish football league system. The league is currently contested by 12 teams each year, with 2 teams relegated. It is the current ...

: 2015–16 *

Danish Cup The Danish Cup (; often referred to as Pokalen) is the official "single-elimination tournament, knockout" cup competition in Danish football, run by the Danish Football Association. The cup has been contested annually since 1955. The winner will ...

: 2014–15, 2015–16 Leicester City *

: 2015–16 *

: 2020–21 *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Beşiktaş *

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

: 2023–24

References

External links

Profile
at the Leicester City F.C. website (archived) * *
archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amartey, Daniel 1994 births Living people Footballers from Accra Ghanaian men's footballers Ghana men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders International Allies F.C. players Djurgårdens IF Fotboll players F.C. Copenhagen players Leicester City F.C. players Beşiktaş J.K. footballers Allsvenskan players Danish Superliga players Premier League players Süper Lig players 2015 Africa Cup of Nations players 2017 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in England Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen