Kenneth Josiah Omeruo (born 17 October 1993) 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 defender for

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

CFR Cluj Fotbal Club CFR 1907 Cluj, commonly known as CFR Cluj ( or ) or simply CFR, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the Liga I. Founded as ''Kolozsvári Vasut ...

and the Nigeria national team. Omeruo signed for Chelsea from

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

in January 2012 and upon signing went on loan to Dutch top-flight side

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

. Then only 19, he impressed enough in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

to earn a call up to the Nigerian national team. Now a regular international, Omeruo has represented Nigeria at the

2013 Africa Cup of Nations The 2013 Africa Cup of Nations, also known as the Orange S.A., Orange Africa Cup of Nations South Africa 2013 for sponsorship reasons, held from 19 January to 10 February 2013, was the 29th Africa Cup of Nations, the Association football, footbal ...

and the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. Omeruo cemented a place in the starting line-up at the Africa Cup of Nations as the Super Eagles emerged victorious in the tournament. In 2019 he scored his first goal in the Africa Cup of Nations against Guinea. He was a key part of the Super Eagles team that won the bronze medal in 2019.

Club career

Early career

Omeruo had spells at Sunshine Stars and

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

as a trialist before he was signed from the Anderlecht academy by

Chelsea

In January 2012, Chelsea signed Omeruo from Liège and immediately loaned him out to

club

. In May 2014 Nigeria World Cup-bound Omeruo agreed a new three-year contract with Chelsea.

Loan to ADO Den Haag

Omeruo joined

on an 18-month loan deal which kept him at the club until the end of the 2012–13 season. On 3 March 2012, Omeruo made his debut for ADO Den Haag against

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

, which ended in a 0–0 draw. On 19 April 2012, in a game against

Groningen Groningen ( , ; ; or ) is the capital city and main municipality of Groningen (province), Groningen province in the Netherlands. Dubbed the "capital of the north", Groningen is the largest place as well as the economic and cultural centre of ...

, Omeruo scored his first goal for ADO Den Haag. On 28 April 2012, Omeruo scored against VVV in the 19th minute. He is the only player in the Dutch league ever to score a goal, an own goal and receive a red card in one match.

Loan to Middlesbrough

On 7 January 2014, Omeruo joined

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

on loan until the end of the 2013–14 season. On 1 February 2014, Omeruo made his debut for Middlesbrough in a 0–0 draw against

Doncaster Rovers Doncaster Rovers Football Club is a professional association football club based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire, England. The team currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system after winning the 202 ...

. On 8 April 2014, Omeruo was sent off in the 82nd minute after picking up a second yellow. Although Boro had to finish the game with nine men ( Ben Gibson was also sent off late in the game), they still managed to earn a 3–1 win victory against

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. The team compete in the ...

. He rejoined Middlesbrough for the 2014–15 season, making his first appearance against

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

in a 2-0 win.

Loan to Kasımpaşa

On 21 July 2015, Omeruo joined Kasımpaşa on a season-long loan with an option to purchase the player at the end of the spell. On 16 August 2015, Omeruo made his debut for Kasımpaşa in a match against

Gaziantepspor Gaziantepspor was a Turkish football club located in the city of Gaziantep. Formed in 1969 and dissolved in 2020, Gaziantepspor were nicknamed the ''Şahinler'' (The Falcons). The club colours were black and red, and they played their home matc ...

, the match ended in a 3–0 victory for Kasımpaşa. Five days later, Omeruo made his home debut against İstanbul Başakşehir, which ended in a 1–0 victory for Kasımpaşa. Omeruo had an up and down season, suffering from a couple injuries, however started whenever he was fit. Although the loan deal had an option to buy, Kasımpaşa decided to pass on the option due to a lack of funds, which led to Omeruo returning to Chelsea for pre-season.

Loan to Alanyaspor

On 31 August 2016, Omeruo signed a one-year contract extension until 2019, before leaving on loan again. He joined

Alanyaspor Alanyaspor Kulübü, known as Corendon Alanyaspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Alanya in Antalya Province. Formed in 1948, the club colours are orange and green. Home matches are play ...

on a season-long loan. He was given the number 44. On 10 September 2016, Omeruo made his debut in a 0–0 draw against Gençlerbirliği. On 25 February 2017, Omeruo scored his first goal for Alanyaspor in their 4–1 home victory over

Adanaspor Adanaspor Kulübü is a Turkish professional Association football, football club based in Adana; currently, they play in the TFF First League. The club was founded in 1954 by middle-class merchants and artisans in response to their perceived ali ...

, netting in the hosts' second in the 37th minute. In May 2017, Omeruo said he might have to leave Chelsea in order to play regular first-team football.

Return to Kasımpaşa

On 25 August 2017, after signing a new three-year deal at Chelsea, Omeruo returned to Kasımpaşa on a season-long loan.

Leganés

On 15 August 2018, Omeruo joined Leganés on a season-long loan. In October 2018, he stated that he was enjoying playing in Spain, and in March 2019, he said he wanted to sign for Leganés permanently. On 13 August 2019, Omeruo returned to Leganés, this time on a permanent deal, ending his seven year spell at Chelsea.

Third spell at Kasımpaşa

On 27 July 2023, Leganés announced the transfer of Omeruo to Kasımpaşa.

International career

Omeruo played for the Nigerian Under-20 team that reached the quarter-finals at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. On 9 January 2013, at the age of 19 he played for the senior team for the first time in a goalless draw against

Cape Verde Cape Verde or Cabo Verde, officially the Republic of Cabo Verde, is an island country and archipelagic state of West Africa in the central Atlantic Ocean, consisting of ten volcanic islands with a combined land area of about . These islands ...

. He then went on to play in all of Nigeria's matches at the

as Nigeria went on to win the competition for the third time. Later that year he was selected for Nigeria's squad at the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

and played in all of the three group games as Nigeria finished third in their group. Omeuro was named in Nigeria's final squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

and started in all four games, as Nigeria finished second in their group and were eliminated by France at the Round of 16. He was selected by Nigeria for their 35-man provisional squad for the 2016 Summer Olympics, but did not make the final 18- man squad. In May 2018, he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30 man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia.

Playing style

Omeruo has been described as a "tall, rangy but strong centre-back" and a "level-headed and determined youngster".

Personal life

His younger brother Lucky Omeruo is also a footballer, who currently plays for Leganés B as a striker and for the

Nigeria national under-20 football team The Nigerian men's national under-20 football team represents Nigeria in men's international association football, football also known as the Nigeria Under-20s or nicknamed the ''Flying Eagles.'' The Flying Eagles is the youth team for the nat ...

. Omeruo and his wife Chioma have welcomed their first child in London, a girl named Chairein.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

Honours

Nigeria *

Africa Cup of Nations The Africa Cup of Nations, commonly abbreviated as AFCON and officially known as the TotalEnergies Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, is the main biennial international men's association football competition in Africa. It is s ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

; runner-up:

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 ...

; third place:

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Orders *

Order_of_the_Niger_civil_division_ribbon

Officer of the

Order of the Niger The Order of the Niger (OON) is the second highest Award, national award in Nigeria. It was instituted in 1963 and is junior to the Order of the Federal Republic, the highest order of merit in the country. Award The two highest honours, the Gr ...

Member of the

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Omeruo, Kenneth 1993 births Living people 2013 Africa Cup of Nations players 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players 2023 Africa Cup of Nations players ADO Den Haag players Africa Cup of Nations–winning players Alanyaspor footballers CD Leganés players Chelsea F.C. players English Football League players Eredivisie players Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers La Liga players Men's association football defenders Middlesbrough F.C. players Nigeria men's international footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian men's footballers Süper Lig players Members of the Order of the Niger Officers of the Order of the Niger 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen Footballers from Abia State