Emmanuel "Manu" Apeh (born 25 October 1996) is a Nigerian

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

Egyptian Premier League The Egyptian Premier League (), also known as the Nile League () for sponsorship reasons, after the addition of title sponsor Nile Developments, is a professional association football league in Egypt and the highest level of the Egyptian football ...

club Al Ittihad.

Club career

Born in Kaduna, Apeh was a SamVic Academy youth graduate, and had a failed trial at

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in August 2014. He made his senior debut with

RSD Alcalá Real Sociedad Deportiva Alcalá is a Spanish football team based in Alcalá de Henares in the Community of Madrid. Founded in 1929 it plays in Tercera División RFEF – Group 7, holding home matches at ''Estadio Municipal del Val'', with a capac ...

's reserve team in 2015, in the regional leagues. Apeh made his first team debut on 24 March 2016, coming on as a half-time substitute in a 1–5

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

away loss against CD San Fernando de Henares. Three days later he scored his first goal, netting the last in a 2–0 home win against

AD Parla Agrupación Deportiva Parla is a Spanish football team based in Parla, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1973 it plays in , holding home games at Campo Municipal ''Los Prados'', with a capacity of 2,500 seats. History The club ...

. In July 2016, after scoring four goals in nine matches, Apeh was definitely promoted to Alcalá's main squad; however, he subsequently moved to

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Lorca, Spain, Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol in the Region of ...

's B-team also in the fourth division. He made his first team debut for the latter on 17 September, replacing Manuel Onwu in a 1–0 away win against Granada CF B in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

championship. In April 2017, ahead of a match against

Linares Deportivo Linares Deportivo () is a Spanish football team based in Linares, in the autonomous community of Andalusia. Founded in 2009 as a replacement for dissolved CD Linares, it plays in Segunda Federación – Group 4. The team's stadium is '' Estadio ...

, Apeh opted not to tell his father's death to his club, and still travelled and played with the senior and the reserve squads. In August, after his team's

promotion Promotion may refer to: Marketing * Promotion (marketing), one of the four marketing mix elements, comprising any type of marketing communication used to inform or persuade target audiences of the relative merits of a product, service, brand or i ...

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

, he was definitely promoted to the main squad by new manager

Curro Torres Cristóbal Emilio "Curro" Torres Ruiz (born 27 December 1976) is a Spanish retired footballer who played as a right-back, currently manager of Estonian club FCI Levadia Tallinn. In his professional career, whose later years were blighted by se ...

. Apeh made his professional debut on 18 August 2017, coming on as a late substitute for

Manel Martínez José Manuel "Manel" Martínez Bel (born 25 March 1992) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a forward for San Fernando. Club career Born in Cabrera de Mar, Barcelona, Catalonia, Manel finished his formation with UE Cornellà. He made his s ...

in a 2–0 home win against

Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa Cultural y Deportiva Leonesa (), better known as Cultural Leonesa or La Cultural, is a Spanish football team based in León, in the autonomous community of Castile and Leon. Founded on 5 August 1923, it currently plays in Primera División RFE ...

; he also provided the assist for Carlos Martínez's last goal. He scored his first professional goal on 21 October, netting his team's second in a 2–2 home draw against

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

. On 11 July 2018, Apeh joined

Celta de Vigo B Real Club Celta de Vigo Fortuna or simply Celta Fortuna is a Spanish football team based in Vigo, Pontevedra, in the autonomous community of Galicia. Founded in 1927, it is the reserve team of Celta Vigo and competes in the . They play their ho ...

in the third division. He made his

first team First team may refer to: Sports * First team (association football), the colloquial name given to the most senior team fielded by a football club * The First Team, the first players known to have played the sport of basketball * First Team All-A ...

– and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

– debut the following 27 January, replacing Jozabed in a 1–2 away loss against

Real Valladolid Real Valladolid Club de Fútbol, S.A.D., or simply Real Valladolid (), is a Spanish professional List of football clubs in Spain, football club based in Valladolid, Castile and León that will compete from the 2025–26 season in the . The club ...

. On 5 August 2020, Apeh agreed to a three-year deal with

in the second level. On 26 January 2022, after being rarely used during the first half of the campaign, he moved on loan to fellow league team

AD Alcorcón Agrupación Deportiva Alcorcón S.A.D. is a Spanish football team based in Alcorcón, in the autonomous community of Madrid. Founded in 1971, it currently plays in Primera Federación, holding home matches at the Municipal de Santo Domingo, ...

until June. On 18 July 2022,

Sabah Sabah () is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state of Malaysia located in northern Borneo, in the region of East Malaysia. Sabah has land borders with the Malaysian state of Sarawak to the southwest and Indonesia's North Kalima ...

announced the signing of Apeh to a two-year contract.

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Apeh, Emmanuel 1996 births Living people Footballers from Kaduna Nigerian men's footballers Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Divisiones Regionales de Fútbol players RSD Alcalá players Lorca FC players RC Celta Fortuna players RC Celta de Vigo players CD Tenerife players AD Alcorcón footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen