Manuel Onwu Villafranca (born 11 January 1988) is a Spanish 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 forward.

Club career

Born in

Tudela, Navarre Tudela is a municipality in Spain, the second largest city of the autonomous community of Navarre and twice a former Latin bishopric. Its population is around 35,000. The city is sited in the Ebro valley. Fast trains running on two-track electrif ...

to a Nigerian father and a Spanish mother, and raised in neighbouring Valtierra, Onwu started playing with Club Atlético Valtierrano then moved to local CD Tudelano, making his senior debut with the latter in 2006, in

Tercera División Tercera División ( en, Third Division) was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segunda División'', and the semi-professional ''Segunda Di ...

. The following year he signed with neighbouring

CA Osasuna Club Atlético Osasuna (, ''Osasuna Athletic Club''), or simply Osasuna, is a Spanish professional football club in Pamplona, Navarre. Founded on 24 October 1920, the club currently plays in La Liga, holding home games at the 23,576-capacity El ...

, being assigned to its B team and going on to serve two loans in the lower leagues subsequently. Onwu scored 11 goals in 30 matches with the reserves in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Fo ...

in the 2011–12 season. On 11 March 2012 he made his first-team – and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men' ...

– debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home win against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club ( eu, Bilboko Athletic Kluba; es, Athletic Club de Bilbao), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao or just Athletic, is a professional football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Basque Country of Spain. They are known as ''Los Le ...

. He made his first start two rounds later, in a 2–0 away victory over

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. (, ca-valencia, Llevant Unió Esportiva ) is a Spanish football club in Valencia, in the namesake autonomous community. Founded on 9 September 1909, Levante play in Segunda División, holding home games at Ci ...

(71 minutes played). In the summer of 2015, after a fleeting spell in the Georgian

Erovnuli Liga The Erovnuli Liga ( ka, ეროვნული ლიგა - lit. National League) is the top division of professional football in Georgia. Since 1990, it has been organized by the Professional Football League of Georgia and Georgian Football F ...

with

FC Dinamo Tbilisi FC Dinamo Tbilisi ( ka, დინამო თბილისი, ) is a Georgian professional football club based in Tbilisi, Georgia, that competes in the Erovnuli Liga, the top flight of Georgian football. Dinamo Tbilisi was one of the mo ...

, Onwu returned to his country and its third tier, going on to represent Lleida Esportiu,

Lorca FC Lorca Fútbol Club was a Spanish football team based in Lorca, in the autonomous community of the Region of Murcia. Founded in 2003, it last played in Preferente Autonómica de Murcia – Group 1, holding home games at Estadio Francisco Artés ...

and UCAM Murcia CF. He achieved promotion with the second club at the end of the 2016–17 campaign by netting eight times, but also dealt with injury and bureaucratic problems. On 17 July 2019,

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

Onwu signed with

Indian Super League The Indian Super League (ISL) is an Indian professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the Indian football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. Organised by the All India Football Federat ...

defending champions

Bengaluru FC Bengaluru Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bangalore, Karnataka. The club competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. The club was established on 20 July 2013, and began its first ...

. The following 28 January, he was loaned to

Odisha FC Odisha Football Club () is an Indian professional football club based in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, that competes in the Indian Super League, the top flight of Indian football. Prior to the inaugural Indian Super League season, the club was founded ...

in the same competition. He scored his first

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three wi ...

as a professional on 23 February, in the 4–4 home draw against Kerala Blasters FC. Onwu joined Odisha on a permanent one-year contract in September 2020.

References

External links

* *
La Segunda B profile
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Onwu, Manuel 1988 births Living people People from Tudela, Navarre Spanish people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Navarre Men's association football forwards La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Tercera División players Segunda Federación players CD Tudelano footballers CA Osasuna B players CA Osasuna players UD Alzira footballers Lleida CF players Lorca FC players UCAM Murcia CF players CF Badalona players Erovnuli Liga players FC Dinamo Tbilisi players Indian Super League players Bengaluru FC players Odisha FC players Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Georgia (country) Expatriate men's footballers in India Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Georgia (country) Spanish expatriate sportspeople in India