Oluwafisayo Faruq Dele-Bashiru (born 6 February 2001) is a Nigerian 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

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

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

, on loan from

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

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...

, and the Nigeria national team.

Club career

After playing for the

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 ...

youth team, whom he joined at the age of 8, he moved to

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

in July 2020, signing for an undisclosed fee. He made his senior debut on 5 September 2020, in the

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 ...

, starting the game away to

Walsall Walsall (, or ; locally ) is a market town and administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Walsall, in the West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. Historic counties of England, Historically part of Staffordshire, it is located ...

and would make his first league appearance against

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

coming off the bench. In February 2021 he suffered an ankle injury after coming off the bench against

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

, and it was expected that he would be out-of-action for four-to-six weeks. He broke into the first team again during his second season, and in October 2021 he won the club's Player of the Month award, as well as scoring his first senior goal in a game against

Cambridge United Cambridge United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Cambridge, England. They currently compete in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of the English football league system. Nicknamed the U’s, the club h ...

. In September 2022, he was nominated for the EFL Cup Player of the Second Round, following a goal and assist against

Rochdale Rochdale ( ) is a town in Greater Manchester, England, and the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Rochdale. In the United Kingdom 2021 Census, 2021 Census, the town had a population of 111,261, compared to 223,773 for the wid ...

, which he subsequently won. Following promotion back to the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

Dele-Bashiru was offered a new contract to stay at the club. On 6 July 2023, it was confirmed he had joined Turkish club

on a three-year contract. He scored eight goals in his first Süper Lig season, finishing as the club's joint-top scorer along with

Carlos Strandberg Sergio Carlos Strandberg (born 14 April 1996) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a forward for Hatayspor. Club career Born to a Swedish father and a mother who is Portuguese with Mozambican heritage, Strandberg grew up in Back ...

, including a crucial goal on the final matchday in a 2–0 win over Rizespor, securing his club's survival in the top tier. On 6 July 2024, he joined Italian side

on loan with an obligation to buy. He scored his first goal for the club in the

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 ...

on 25 September 2024 in a 3-0 victory over

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

, and scored his first Serie A goal on 24 November 2024 in the 3-0 victory over

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

. The clause in his contract was confirmed to be activated - for a figure of €5.4 million - in the club's half-yearly report released in March 2025.

International career

In October 2023, Dele-Bashiru was called up to the Nigeria national team. He scored in his second appearance for Nigeria during their 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying match against

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

Personal life

Born in Nigeria, Dele-Bashiru moved to England at a young age. His brother Tom Dele-Bashiru is also a footballer.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Nigeria's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Dele-Bashiru goal.''

Honours

Sheffield Wednesday *

EFL League One play-offs The EFL League One play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL League One table and are part of the English Football League play-offs. , the play-offs comprise tw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dele-Bashiru, Fisayo 2001 births Living people Footballers from Hamburg English men's footballers German men's footballers English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent German sportspeople of Nigerian descent Manchester City F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players Hatayspor footballers SS Lazio players Süper Lig players Serie A players Men's association football midfielders Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people English Football League players German expatriate men's footballers English expatriates in Turkey German expatriates in Turkey Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate men's footballers 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century German sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen