Kenny Joelle Tete (born 9 October 1995) is a Dutch 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

Club career

Ajax

Tete was born in Amsterdam where he grew up and played for AFC DWS and AVV Zeeburgia before he was recruited into the Ajax Academy in 2005 at the age of 10. The 2011–12 season saw Tete playing for the Ajax B1 team, the second highest youth level in the academy, as a

right back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

, and helping his side to clinch the B-Juniors Eredivisie title. He signed his first professional contract with Ajax on 20 July 2012, binding him to the Amsterdam club until 30 June 2015. He spent his first year as a professional playing for the Ajax A1 youth team, without receiving any call-ups to the first team. The following season saw Tete, alongside fellow academy player

Riechedly Bazoer Riechedly Guillermo Bazoer (born 12 October 1996) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or defensive midfielder for Turkish club Konyaspor. Club career Ajax Bazoer joined Ajax on a free from rival Eredivisie club ...

, receive his first call-up to the first team which participated in the pre-season training camp in Austria. Tete appeared in his first match for the first team in a pre-season friendly match against

SDC Putten Sterk Door Combinatie Putten (SDC Putten) is an association football club from Putten, Netherlands. It was founded in 1952. History In 1966 SDC Putten promoted from the Tweede Klasse to the Hoofdklasse. Since, it plays predominantly in the Hoofd ...

on 29 June 2013. The match ended in a 4–1 away victory for Ajax, with Tete coming on as a substitute for Ruben Ligeon in the 45th minute. He made his professional debut that season in the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, the 2nd tier of professional football in the Netherlands, playing for the recently promoted reserves team Jong Ajax, in what would be the team's first-ever appearance in that division, against

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

on 5 August 2013. The match ended in a 2–0 victory for Jong Ajax at the

Amsterdam ArenA The Johan Cruyff Arena ( ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of association football, football club AFC Ajax, Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to ...

. Having appeared on the bench for the first team during the 2013–14 season, it wasn't until the second half of the 2014–15 season that Tete would make his debut for the first team in an official match, appearing in the 1–0 home loss to

AZ Alkmaar Alkmaar Zaanstreek (), better known internationally as AZ Alkmaar, or simply and most commonly as AZ () in the Netherlands, is a Dutch professional Association football, football club from Alkmaar and the Zaan#The Zaan district, Zaan district. ...

on 5 February 2015 as a 69th-minute substitute. Tete went on to make 55 appearances for Ajax, including helping them reach the 2017

Europa League Final The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the second- ...

Lyon

On 10 July 2017, Tete was acquired by French side

Lyon Lyon (Franco-Provençal: ''Liyon'') is a city in France. It is located at the confluence of the rivers Rhône and Saône, to the northwest of the French Alps, southeast of Paris, north of Marseille, southwest of Geneva, Switzerland, north ...

for a fee believed to be around €3m. Tete scored his first goal for Lyon in a 3–3 draw against

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( ; ; Gascon language, Gascon ; ) is a city on the river Garonne in the Gironde Departments of France, department, southwestern France. A port city, it is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the Prefectures in F ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

play on 19 August 2017. In total, Tete would go on to make 82 appearances for the club in just over three years with Lyon, prominently featuring in their run to the semi-finals of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

during the 2019–20 season.

Fulham

On 10 September 2020,

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 ...

club

confirmed the signing of Tete from Lyon on a four-year deal with the option of a further year. He was given the number 2 shirt. Tete made his debut in a 1–0 win against

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. The club currently competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. Ipswich Town were founded in 1878 but did not turn ...

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 ...

second round. He scored his first goal for Fulham in a 7–0 win at

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

on 11 January 2022. In Fulham's opening match of the

2022–23 Premier League The 2022–23 Premier League was the 31st season of the Premier League and the 124th season of top-flight English football overall. Fulham, Bournemouth and Nottingham Forest were the three promoted clubs from the 2021–22 EFL Championship, re ...

season, Tete provided the assist for

Aleksandar Mitrović Aleksandar Mitrović ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Митровић, ; ; born 16 September 1994) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Saudi Pro League club Al-Hilal and the Serbia national team. A youth product a ...

's opening goal in a 2–2 home draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. On 1 July 2025, he extended his contract with the club until 2028.

International career

On 25 October 2011, Tete made his debut for the Netherlands national under-17 team in a

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

qualifying match against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

, which ended in a 3–0 win for the Dutch. He made two further appearances during the qualifying rounds but was not included in the final 22-man squad which clinched the

2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eleventh edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship under its current age grouping. Slovenia hosted the tournament between 4 and 16 May. An appeal by the Hungarian Football Feder ...

in Slovakia. Tete received his first under-19 call-up when he was named in the squad for the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

. He appeared in all three group stage matches. The team defeated hosts

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

3–2 in the opening match but lost their next two matches against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

and

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

, failing to advance past the group stage. Tete received his first call up to the senior Netherlands team in August 2015. Tete played his first cap for the Dutch national team on 10 October against Kazakhstan.

Personal life

Tete was born and raised in Amsterdam to a father from

Beira, Mozambique Beira () is the capital and largest List of cities in Mozambique, city of Sofala Province, in the central region of Mozambique. Beira is where the Pungwe River meets the Indian Ocean. It is the fourth-largest city by population in Mozambique, af ...

and a mother from

Nias Nias (, Nias: ''Tanö Niha'') is an island located off the western coast of Sumatra, Indonesia. Nias is also the name of the archipelago () of which the island is the centre, but also includes the Batu Islands to the southeast and the small ...

, Indonesia. His father Miguel Tete had relocated to the Netherlands with his family at age 5 during the

Mozambican War of Independence The Mozambican War of Independence was an armed conflict between the guerrilla forces of the Mozambique Liberation Front (FRELIMO) and Portuguese Armed Forces, Portugal. The war officially started on 25 September 1964, and ended with a ceas ...

, and is a former European heavyweight kickboxing champion, who works at

The Bulldog The Bulldog is an Amsterdam-based company that owns and operates a chain of cannabis coffee shops, hotels, cafés and brand stores located in Amsterdam and Canada. The Bulldog has its own merchandising brand consisting of clothing, souvenirs ...

coffeeshop on the

Leidseplein Leidseplein (English: Leiden Square) is a square in central Amsterdam, Netherlands. It lies in the Weteringschans neighborhood ( Centrum borough), immediately northeast of the Singelgracht. It is located on the crossroads of the Weteringschans ...

in downtown Amsterdam.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Ajax *

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 ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Fulham *

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 ...

: 2021–22
Netherlands U17 *

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Fulham F.C. website
Profile
at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch) * {{DEFAULTSORT:Tete, Kenny 1995 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch people of Indonesian descent Sportspeople of Indonesian descent Dutch people of Mozambican descent Dutch men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks AFC Ajax players Jong Ajax players Olympique Lyonnais players Fulham F.C. players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Ligue 1 players Championnat National 2 players Premier League players English Football League players Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France 21st-century Dutch sportsmen