Kelede Nathan Oduwa (born 5 March 1996) 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 lea ...

who plays as a winger. He has represented England at the under-17, under-18, and under-20 levels, and Nigeria at the under-23 level.

Club career

Tottenham Hotspur

Born in

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London, part of the London Borough of Camden in England. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural institution, cultural, intellectual, and educational ...

, Greater London, Oduwa joined

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

at the age of 11 and progressed through the club's

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

, signing his first professional contract in July 2012. He played for the club's under-18 team, making 24 appearances and scoring 10 goals during the 2013–14 season. Oduwa was promoted to the under-21 team for the subsequent season, scoring four goals. On 2 February 2015, Oduwa joined League Two club

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club is a professional association football, football club from Luton, Bedfordshire, England. The club currently competes in EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Nicknamed "The Hatters", L ...

loan In finance, a loan is the tender of money by one party to another with an agreement to pay it back. The recipient, or borrower, incurs a debt and is usually required to pay interest for the use of the money. The document evidencing the deb ...

until the end of the 2014–15 season. He made his

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

debut on 7 February as a 59th-minute substitute for

Shaun Whalley Shaun James Whalley (born 7 August 1987) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for club Accrington Stanley. Born in Prescot, Merseyside, Whalley played for Norwich City and Southport as a youth before making his Football ...

in a 1–1 draw with

Oxford United Oxford United Football Club () is a professional association football, football club based in Oxford, England. The club compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football league system, English football. Founded as Headingto ...

at the

Kassam Stadium The Kassam Stadium (also known as Grenoble Road) is the home of Oxford United F.C., and is named after the ground's owner and former chairman of the football club, Firoz Kassam. The Kassam Stadium was built whilst Oxford United played in Di ...

. He completed the loan spell with 11 appearances for Luton, eight of which came as a substitute. On 13 August 2015, Oduwa, alongside Spurs teammate,

Dominic Ball Dominic Martin Ball (born 2 August 1995) is an English professional footballer who plays for League Two club Cambridge United. He plays primarily as a defensive midfielder but can also play as a centre-back or at full-back. Club career Totten ...

, signed for

Scottish Championship The Scottish Championship known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Championship for sponsorship reasons, is the second tier of the Scottish Professional Football League, the league competition for men's professional association footb ...

club

Rangers A ranger is typically someone in a law enforcement or military/paramilitary role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called "ranging" or "scouting". The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with prot ...

on season-long loans. He debuted three days later as a 61st-minute substitute for

Barrie McKay Barrie McKay (born 30 December 1994) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a striker or as a winger for club Heart of Midlothian. McKay has previously played for Rangers, Greenock Morton, Raith Rovers, Nottingham Forest, Swansea ...

in a 5–1 away win over

Alloa Athletic Alloa Athletic Football Club is a Scottish association football semi-professional club based in the town of Alloa, Clackmannanshire. They compete in as a member of the Scottish Professional Football League. According to the official club hist ...

. During the match, he sparked controversy by performing a rainbow flick, which an Alloa defender called "disrespectful". Oduwa scored his first goal for the Ibrox club in a 4–0 home win over

Dumbarton Dumbarton (; , or ; or , meaning 'fort of the Britons (historical), Britons') is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, on the north bank of the River Clyde where the River Leven, Dunbartonshire, River Leven flows into the Clyde estuary. ...

on 1 December. By late October, he had managed four assists, as well as winning several penalties. However, as Rangers sought more permanent options in Oduwa's position, his loan spell was cut short, and he returned to Tottenham Hotspur on 17 January 2016. On 26 February 2016, Oduwa signed for

League One League One or League 1 may refer to: Association football * EFL League One, the third tier of football in England. * China League One, the second tier of football in China * K League 1, the top-tier football in South Korea * Lao League 1 * Lea ...

club

Colchester United Colchester United Football Club is a professional association football club based in the city of Colchester, Essex, England. The team competes in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded in 1937, the club spent its ea ...

on a one-month loan. He made only two appearances for the club, both of which were as a substitute. On 31 August 2016, Oduwa joined League One club

Peterborough United Peterborough United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England. The team compete in League One, the third level of the English football league system. Peterborough United formed in ...

on loan until 2 January 2017. He made his debut for the club in a 2–2 draw at home to

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

on 3 September. Peterborough manager

Grant McCann Grant Samuel McCann (born 15 April 1980) is a Northern Irish professional football manager and former player who played as a midfielder in the Football League. He is the manager of club Doncaster Rovers. Born in Belfast, McCann played in the D ...

confirmed that Oduwa returned to Tottenham on 1 January, having made nine substitute appearances.

Olimpija Ljubljana

On 14 February 2017, Oduwa signed for

Slovenian PrvaLiga The Slovenian PrvaLiga (, ), currently named Prva liga Telemach due to sponsorship reasons, also known by the abbreviation 1. SNL, is the top level of the Slovenian football league system. Contested by ten clubs, it operates on a system of prom ...

club Olimpija Ljubljana on a three-year contract. He debuted on 25 February in a 1–0 defeat away to

Maribor Maribor ( , , ; also known by other #Name, historical names) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, second-largest city in Slovenia and the largest city of the traditional region of Styria (Slovenia), Lower Styria. It is the seat of the ...

. Oduwa left the club on 22 July 2018, after his contract was terminated by mutual consent.

Vejle Boldklub

On 28 September 2018,

Vejle Boldklub Vejle Boldklub is a Danish professional football club based in Vejle in Jutland. Formed in 1891, the club is one of the most successful clubs in Danish football history, having won the Danish championship five times and the Danish cup title six ...

announced the signing of Oduwa on a three-year contract. On 17 December 2018, Vejle and Oduwa agreed to terminate the players contract before time.

Hapoel Hadera

On 30 January 2019, Oduwa signed for the

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club Hapoel Hadera.

Dundalk

On 10 March 2020, Oduwa signed for

League of Ireland Premier Division The League of Ireland Men's Premier Division (), also known as the SSE Airtricity Men's Premier Division for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in the Republic of Ireland and the highest level of the Republic of I ...

champions

Dundalk Dundalk ( ; ) is the county town of County Louth, Ireland. The town is situated on the Castletown River, which flows into Dundalk Bay on the north-east coast of Ireland, and is halfway between Dublin and Belfast, close to and south of the bor ...

Shamakhi

On 3 February 2022,

Azerbaijan Premier League The Azerbaijan Premier League (), also known as Misli Premyer Liqası for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Azerbaijan and the highest level of the Azerbaijani football league system. It is contested by twelve ...

club Keşla announced the signing of Oduwa on a contract until the end of the 2021–22 season. On 6 April 2022, Keşla FK changed their name to Shamakhi FK.

Turan Tovuz

On 30 June 2023,

Turan Tovuz Turan Tovuz () is an Azerbaijani football club based in Tovuz. The club won the Azerbaijan championship once, in 1994–1995. The club's home stadium is Tovuz City Stadium. History Founded by Vidadi Ahmedov on 23 February 1992, the club was t ...

announced the departure of Oduwa after his contract had expired.

Chungbuk Cheongju

On 15 January 2024,

K League 2 The K League 2 () is the men's second-highest division of the South Korean football league system. It is contested between thirteen professional clubs and operates on a promotion and relegation system with K League 1. History In 2011, the or ...

club Chungbuk Cheongju announced the signing of Oduwa. In July 2024, Oduwa left the club after 11 appearances in all competitions.

International career

Oduwa has represented England at multiple youth levels. In September 2015, he was named in the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

squad. On 24 March 2016, Oduwa debuted for Nigeria U23 in a friendly match against Brazil U23, where he replaced

Imoh Ezekiel Imoh Ezekiel (born 24 October 1993) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker. He made one appearance for the Nigeria national team in 2014. Club career Ezekiel joined Standard Liège in January 2012, making his debut on 19 ...

in the final minutes of the match. Oduwa was part of Nigeria U23 team at the Suwon Invitational Tournament in preparation for the

Rio 2016 Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

Style of play

Oduwa mainly plays as a left winger, although he is also capable of playing on the right wing. He has a very direct play style, and uses pace,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

, and tricks (such as the '' rainbow flick'') to beat opposing defenders. He provides assists with his balls in from wide positions, and also draws a lot of fouls.

Career statistics

Honours

Olimpija Ljubljana *

: 2017–18 *

Slovenian Cup Slovene or Slovenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Slovenia, a country in Central Europe * Slovene language, a South Slavic language mainly spoken in Slovenia * Slovenes, an ethno-linguistic group mainly living in Slovenia * Sl ...

: 2017–18; runner-up: 2016–17 Dundalk *

FAI Cup The Football Association of Ireland Senior Challenge Cup (FAI Cup), known as the Sports Direct FAI Cup for sponsorship reasons, is a knock-out association football competition contested annually by teams from the Republic of Ireland (as well as D ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Oduwa, Nathan 1996 births Living people People from Bloomsbury Footballers from the London Borough of Camden Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's youth international footballers English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Men's association football wingers Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Rangers F.C. players Luton Town F.C. players Colchester United F.C. players Peterborough United F.C. players NK Olimpija Ljubljana (2005) players Vejle Boldklub players Hapoel Hadera F.C. players Dundalk F.C. players Chungbuk Cheongju FC Players English Football League players Scottish Professional Football League players Slovenian PrvaLiga players Danish Superliga players Israeli Premier League players League of Ireland players English expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovenia Expatriate men's footballers in Slovenia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's association footballers in the Republic of Ireland Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ireland Expatriate men's footballers in South Korea English expatriate sportspeople in South Korea 21st-century English sportsmen 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen