Jonathan Kisolokele Leko (born 24 April 1999) is a 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 ...
who plays as a
forward
Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward.
Forward may also refer to:
People
* Forward (surname)
Sports
* Forward (association football)
* Forward (basketball), including:
** Point forward
** Power forward (basketball)
** Sm ...
for club
Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...
.
He began his career with
West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...
, made his senior debut as a 16-year-old in 2015, and spent time
on loan
In sports, a loan involves a particular player being able to temporarily play for a club other than the one to which they are currently contracted. Loan deals may last from a few weeks to a full season, sometimes persisting for multiple seasons ...
at
Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
and
Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
. He joined
Birmingham City
Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. Since 2011, the first te ...
in 2020, and had a spell on loan at Charlton in 2021 before signing for Milton Keynes Dons in 2023.
Leko was born in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
and grew up in England from the age of eight. He has represented England at all levels up to
under-20.
Early life
Leko was born in 1999 in
Kinshasa, in the
Democratic Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (french: République démocratique du Congo (RDC), colloquially "La RDC" ), informally Congo-Kinshasa, DR Congo, the DRC, the DROC, or the Congo, and formerly and also colloquially Zaire, is a country in ...
. He came to England at the age of eight with his father, who was granted
asylum
Asylum may refer to:
Types of asylum
* Asylum (antiquity), places of refuge in ancient Greece and Rome
* Benevolent Asylum, a 19th-century Australian institution for housing the destitute
* Cities of Refuge, places of refuge in ancient Judea
* ...
.
He grew up in the
Nechells
Nechells is a district ward in central Birmingham, England, whose population in 2011 was 33,957. It is also a ward (politics), ward within the Government of Birmingham, England#Districts, formal district of Ladywood. Nechells local government wa ...
area of
Birmingham
Birmingham ( ) is a city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands in England. It is the second-largest city in the United Kingdom with a population of 1.145 million in the city proper, 2.92 million in the We ...
,
[ and after he joined West Bromwich Albion's football academy, he was educated at ]Sandwell Academy
Sandwell Academy is a secondary school and sixth form with academy status located in West Bromwich in the West Midlands, England. The school opened in 2006 and has since opened a new, on-site building with various fitness, IT and classroom fac ...
, opposite the club's stadium.
Club career
West Bromwich Albion
Leko joined West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...
at the age of 11. According to the club's academy manager, Mark Harrison, he was "a bit of a rough diamond", but by the under-14s he had developed an understanding of the game and was showing considerable creative ability. He was included in the first team's 2015 pre-season tour of Austria, during which he came off the bench in a 3–1 loss against Red Bull Salzburg.
Leko made his competitive debut on 23 September 2015 as a 77th-minute substitute in a League Cup
In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...
defeat to Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...
.[ On 2 April 2016, he was named in the matchday squad against ]Sunderland
Sunderland () is a port city in Tyne and Wear, England. It is the City of Sunderland's administrative centre and in the Historic counties of England, historic county of County of Durham, Durham. The city is from Newcastle-upon-Tyne and is on t ...
, and came on for Saido Berahino
Saido Berahino (born 4 August 1993) is a Burundian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Cypriot First Division club AEL Limassol and captains the Burundi national team.
Having fled his native Burundi as a child, he received ...
in the 78th minute to make his Premier League
The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...
debut at the age of 16 years and 344 days. When he took the field on 30 April against West Ham United
West Ham United Football Club is an English professional football club that plays its home matches in Stratford, East London. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The club plays at the London Stadium ...
, Leko became the first player born in 1999 to start a Premier League match. In the last match of the season, a 1–1 draw with Liverpool
Liverpool is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the List of English districts by population, 10th largest English district by population and its E ...
, he set up Salomón Rondón
José Salomón Rondón Giménez (; born 16 September 1989) is a Venezuelan professional footballer who plays as a striker for the Venezuela national team, and is currently a free agent.
After starting out at Aragua, he went on to spend most o ...
's goal with a solo run. Before the match, Leko received the club's Young Player of the Season award. On 28 June, he agreed terms on his first professional contract, a three-year deal lasting to June 2019.
He made nine Premier League appearances for West Bromwich Albion in 2016–17. Away to Stoke City
Stoke City Football Club is a professional football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England, which competes in the . Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, it changed its name to Stoke in 1878 and then to Stoke City in 1925 after Sto ...
on 24 September 2016, he took a corner from which Rondón headed a stoppage-time
Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...
equaliser. He then won the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for December with the West Bromwich Albion U23s.
Leko was one of 98 nominations for the European Golden Boy award for 2017, but did not make the 24-man shortlist.
West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the Championship in 2018, but Leko played little during the 2018–19 season.[
]
Bristol City (loan)
Leko made one substitute appearance for West Brom, in the 2017–18 EFL Cup
The 2017–18 EFL Cup was the 58th season of the EFL Cup. The competition was open to all 92 clubs participating in the Premier League and the English Football League. It was known as the Carabao Cup due to the start of a sponsorship deal with Cara ...
,[ before joining ]Championship
In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion.
Championship systems
Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship.
Title match system
In this system ...
club Bristol City
Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England, which compete in the , the second tier of English football. They have played their home games at Ashton Gate since moving from St John's Lane in 1904. The ...
on 28 August on a season-long loan. He was recalled in January 2018 after 11 goalless appearances, so that he could by assessed by new manager Alan Pardew
Alan Scott Pardew (born 18 July 1961) is an English football manager and former professional footballer, who is the current manager of Greek Super League club Aris.
Pardew's highest achievements in the sport include reaching the FA Cup Final t ...
.
Charlton Athletic (first loan)
On 8 August 2019, Leko and teammate Sam Field Sam Field may refer to:
* Sam Field (baseball)
* Sam Field (footballer)
Samuel Edward Field (born 8 May 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or a defensive midfielder for EFL Championship club Queens Park Rang ...
joined Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
on a season-long loan. He scored his first goal against Reading
Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of Letter (alphabet), letters, symbols, etc., especially by Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch.
For educators and researchers, reading is a multifaceted process invo ...
on 31 August. Having scored five goals from 21 appearances,[ Leko suffered an ]ACL injury
An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during inju ...
during the match against Queens Park Rangers
Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England, which compete in the . After a nomadic early existence, they have played home matches at Loftus ...
on 23 December which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He returned to his parent club for treatment.
Leko made a complaint to the Football Association
The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the oldest football association in the world ...
about an incident of racial abuse by Leeds United
Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...
goalkeeper Kiko Casilla
Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Getafe CF.
He started playing for Real Madrid, but only represented the reserve teams in the early stage of his career. ...
in a match in September. Casilla was found guilty by an independent panel in February 2020 and received an eight-match ban and a £60,000 fine. Leko said afterwards that he had been disappointed both by the delay in resolving the issue and by the lack of support from the Professional Footballers' Association
The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) is the trade union for professional association footballers in England and Wales. Founded in 1907, it is the world's oldest professional sport trade union, and has over 5,000 members.
The aims of ...
(PFA) and from such anti-racism organisations as Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card
Show Racism the Red Card (SRTRC) is an anti-racism education charity, established in England in January 1996 to harness the high-profile nature of footballers as anti-racist role models to educate against racism throughout society in the Unite ...
.
Birmingham City
Leko signed a three-year contract with Birmingham on 28 August 2020. The fee was undisclosed, but reported as £1 million. After ten months out with the ACL injury, he finally made his Birmingham City debut on 17 October, as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday
Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot ...
.
Charlton Athletic (second loan)
On 31 August 2021, having made 41 competitive appearances without scoring, Leko re-joined, now, League One
The English Football League One (often referred to as League One for short or Sky Bet League One for sponsorship purposes, and known as the Football League One from 2004 until 2016) is the second-highest division of the English Football Leag ...
club Charlton Athletic
Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...
on a season-long loan. He made his second debut for the club on 11 September, as a half-time substitute with Charlton two goals down at home to Cheltenham Town
Cheltenham Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. From the 2021–22 season, the club compete in League One, the third tier of the English football league sy ...
, and scored after 59 minutes; the match ended 1–2.
Return to Birmingham City
Upon his return to Birmingham he scored his first goal for the club in an EFL Cup
The EFL Cup (referred to historically, and colloquially, as the League Cup), currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual knockout competition and major trophy in men's domestic football in England. Organised by th ...
tie against Norwich City
Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 2 ...
on 9 August 2022.
Milton Keynes Dons
Leko signed for League One club Milton Keynes Dons
Milton Keynes Dons Football Club (), usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in , the third tier of the English football league system. Th ...
on 13 January 2023 for an undisclosed fee.
International career
Leko represented England at under-16 level. He was ever-present for the under-17s in qualifying for the 2016 European Championships.[ Against ]Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
in the elite round, he set up the first goal for Reiss Nelson
Reiss Luke Nelson ( ; born 10 December 1999) is an English professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Arsenal.
Early and personal life
Nelson was born in Elephant and Castle, London He grew up in Aylesbury Estate in ...
and scored the second in a 3–1 win. However, he was unable to take part in the tournament proper because West Bromwich Albion pulled him out of the squad so that he could play in the final two games of the Premier League season.
Leko received his first call-up to the England under-18 team for friendlies
An exhibition game (also known as a friendly, a scrimmage, a demonstration, a preseason game, a warmup match, or a preparation match, depending at least in part on the sport) is a sporting event whose prize money and impact on the player's or ...
against Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
and Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in September 2016; he appeared in both games. He made four friendly appearances for the under-19s in 2017, but played no competitive matches at that level.
Leko made his under-20 debut on 5 September 2019, starting in a goalless draw with the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
at the New Meadow
New Meadow, also known as Montgomery Waters Meadow for sponsorship purposes, is a stadium situated on the southern outskirts of Shrewsbury, Shropshire, between the districts of Meole Brace and Sutton Farm, and close to the A5. It serves the hom ...
, Shrewsbury
Shrewsbury ( , also ) is a market town, civil parish, and the county town of Shropshire, England, on the River Severn, north-west of London; at the 2021 census, it had a population of 76,782. The town's name can be pronounced as either 'S ...
, and played twice more at that level.
Career statistics
Honours
Individual
* West Bromwich Albion
West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional Association football, football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English foo ...
Young Player of the Season: 2015–16
* Premier League 2 Player of the Month: December 2016
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leko, Jonathan
1999 births
Living people
Footballers from Kinshasa
English footballers
England youth international footballers
Association football forwards
West Bromwich Albion F.C. players
Bristol City F.C. players
Charlton Athletic F.C. players
Birmingham City F.C. players
Milton Keynes Dons F.C. players
Premier League players
English Football League players
English sportspeople of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent
Democratic Republic of the Congo emigrants to England