Leke Samson James (born 1 November 1992) is a Nigerian professional footballer 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) ** Smal ...

Club career

Early career

He started out his career in his native homeland playing for Bridge Boys.

Aalesund

He transferred to Aalesund on 6 January 2012. An injury obtained during pre-season hindered his path into the first team and he did not get back into full training until the start of July. On 26 July 2012 he made his first appearance for Aalesund coming on as a substitute at the start of the second half of the game versus

Tirana Tirana ( , ; ) is the capital and List of cities and towns in Albania, largest city of Albania. It is located in the centre of the country, enclosed by mountains and hills, with Dajti rising to the east and a slight valley to the northwest ov ...

Europe League 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- ...

scoring twice in Aalesund's 5–0 win. On 29 July 2012 he made his debut in

Tippeligaen Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

and also started his first match, against Stabæk.

Beijing Enterprises Group

Between 2016 and 2017 he played for Chinese club

Beijing Enterprises Group Beijing Sport University Football Club (), commonly known as BSU (), was a Chinese professional football club that participated in the China League One division under license from the Chinese Football Association (CFA). The team was based in Beij ...

China League One The Chinese Football League 1 (), also known as China League One or Chinese Jia League (), is the second level of professional football in China, under the Chinese Super League. The league is under the auspices of the Chinese Football Association ...

Molde

On 30 April 2018,

Molde FK Molde Fotballklubb () is a association football, football club based in Molde Municipality, Molde, Norway, that competes in Eliteserien, the top flight of Norwegian football league system, Norwegian football. Founded on 19 June 1911, the club w ...

announced the signing of James on a three-year contract. He got his Molde debut on 26 July 2018 when he came on as a 67th minute substitute in Molde's 3–0 win against Laçi in the

2018–19 UEFA Europa League The 2018–19 UEFA Europa League was the 48th season of Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 10th season since it was renamed from the UEFA Cup to the UEFA Europa League. The final was played at the Olympic Sta ...

second qualifying round. James scored Molde's third goal in the game. On 22 June 2019, James scored a

perfect hat-trick Perfect commonly refers to: * Perfection; completeness, and excellence * Perfect (grammar), a grammatical category in some languages Perfect may also refer to: Film and television * ''Perfect'' (1985 film), a romantic drama * ''Perfect'' (20 ...

in the first half in Molde's 4–0 away win against

Strømsgodset Strømsgodset is a former municipality in Vestfold county (from 1964 Buskerud county) in Norway which is today a part of the city of Drammen. History Strømsgodset was originally a small rural annex to the city parish of Bragernes (Drammen). ...

. He scored with his right foot, left foot and his head and completed his hat-trick in 13 minutes and 45 seconds. On 11 July 2019, James scored his second hat-trick for the club, his first in

UEFA competitions UEFA competitions (), referred improperly by the mass media as European football, are the set of tournaments organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), generally in professional and amateur association football and futsal. Th ...

, in Molde's 7–1 win over KR 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 ...

first qualifying round. James scored a brace in Molde's 4–0 win against Strømsgodset on Aker Stadion. He scored the third and fourth goal of the game that secured Molde their fourth league title, his first. James finished the 2019 season scoring 24 goals in 38 matches in all competitions.

Sivasspor

After a short spell in the

Saudi Pro League The Saudi Pro League (SPL), also known as the Roshn Saudi League (RSL) for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Saudi Arabia and the highest level of the Saudi football league system. The SPL is regarded as th ...

, James joined

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

Sivasspor Sivasspor Kulübü, known as Net Global Sivasspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish sports club based in Sivas. The primary department of the club is men's football. Formed in 1967, its football department has competed in Süper Lig since t ...

on a two-year on 14 July 2021. On 30 December 2021, James scored two goals in Sivasspor's 2–1 win over

MKE Ankaragücü MKE Ankaragücü or fully Makina ve Kimya Endüstrisi Ankaragücü (), is a Turkish professional sports club located in the city of Ankara. The football team wears a yellow and navy kit and plays its home matches at Eryaman Stadium following the ...

in the fifth round of the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

. Sivasspor would eventually defeat

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

in the final to secure the club its first major honour.

Career statistics

Club

莱克
at sodasoccer.com 2016-11-01

Honours

Molde *

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

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 ...

Sivasspor *

: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:James, Leke 1992 births Living people Aalesunds FK players Al Qadsiah FC players Beijing Sport University F.C. players China League One players Eliteserien players Expatriate men's footballers in China Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Saudi Arabia Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers from Kaduna Men's association football forwards Molde FK players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in China Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Norway Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Saudi Arabia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Nigerian men's footballers Saudi Pro League players Sivasspor footballers Süper Lig players Yoruba sportspeople 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen