Stefano Chuka Okaka (; born 9 August 1989) is an Italian former

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

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 ...

. He began his career at

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

, debuting shortly after his 16th birthday and being loaned to several other teams for the duration of his contract. He totalled over 125

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

games for that club,

Bari Bari ( ; ; ; ) is the capital city of the Metropolitan City of Bari and of the Apulia Regions of Italy, region, on the Adriatic Sea in southern Italy. It is the first most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy. It is a port and ...

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

and

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. Abroad, he played 47

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 ...

matches for

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 ...

and

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

, and had a season in Belgium with

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 ...

Club career

Roma

Born in

Castiglione del Lago Castiglione del Lago is a town in the province of Perugia of Umbria (central Italy), on the southwest corner of Lake Trasimeno. Orvieto is south, Chiusi is to the south west, Arezzo is to the north west, Cortona is to the north, and Perugia is ...

Umbria Umbria ( ; ) is a Regions of Italy, region of central Italy. It includes Lake Trasimeno and Cascata delle Marmore, Marmore Falls, and is crossed by the Tiber. It is the only landlocked region on the Italian Peninsula, Apennine Peninsula. The re ...

, Italy to Nigerian parents who later obtained Italian citizenship, Okaka joined the

youth system in 2004. He was part of the team that won the U-20 national title in 2005 and scored goals against Juventus in the semi-final and Atalanta in the final. On 29 September 2005, at the age of he made his debut with the first team in the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, playing against

Aris Aris or ARIS may refer to: People * Aris (surname) Given name * Aris Alexandrou, Greek writer * Aris Brimanis, ice hockey player * Aris Christofellis, Greek male soprano * Aris Gavelas, Greek sprinter * Aris Konstantinidis, Greek architect * ...

. He thus became the youngest footballer to debut in an international competition for an Italian team. Okaka scored his first goal for Roma in a

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

match against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

on 8 December, with a powerful run from midfield and a precise shot to the left of the goalkeeper, making him the youngest goalscorer in the competition at the age of . He made his

debut with the club later that month, on 18 December, at the age of 16 years and 125 days, in a 1–1 away draw against

. Okaka scored his first

goal on 17 September 2006, concluding a 3–1 win over

Siena Siena ( , ; traditionally spelled Sienna in English; ) is a city in Tuscany, in central Italy, and the capital of the province of Siena. It is the twelfth most populated city in the region by number of inhabitants, with a population of 52,991 ...

, just 38 days after his 17th birthday, after coming on as a substitute for

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for AS Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He was a technically gifted and creati ...

. He made his debut in 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 ...

ten days later, in a 2–1 away loss to

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

, aged . Okaka was subsequently loaned to

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

for the 2007–08 season in order to gain some first team experience. He scored seven times in 33 appearances. After returning to Roma, he signed a new contract which lasted until 30 June 2012. As a part of it, he earned a gross annual salary of €600,000 in the first two seasons, which then increased to €700,000 and €900,000. He also spent a six-month loan period at

Brescia Brescia (, ; ; or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in the region of Lombardy, in Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Lake Garda, Garda and Lake Iseo, Iseo. With a population of 199,949, it is the se ...

in Serie B from January to June 2009, where he scored two goals in 16 appearances. On 6 August 2009, substitute Okaka scored his first goal with Roma in a continental competition, the final goal in a 7–1 win away to

Gent Gent is a shortened form of the word gentleman. It may also refer to: * Ghent ( Dutch: Gent), a Belgian city ** K.A.A. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** K.R.C. Gent, a football club from Ghent ** Gent RFC, a rugby club in Ghent ** .gent, ...

in the second leg of the

2009–10 UEFA Europa League The 2009–10 UEFA Europa League was the first season of the UEFA Europa League, Europe's secondary club football tournament organised by UEFA. The competition was previously known as the UEFA Cup, which had been in existence for 38 years. Spai ...

third qualifying round (10–2 aggregate). He scored again in the Europa League in Roma's 2–0 win over

CSKA Sofia CSKA Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia and currently competing in the country's premier football competition, the First League. ''CSKA'' is an abbreviation for ''Central Sports Club of the Army'' ...

and in Roma's 2–1 win over Fulham. His last goal with Roma was an 88th-minute winner against Siena. On 1 February 2010, he joined Fulham on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut in the 1–0 win over

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

on 3 February, and scored his first goal for the club eleven days later in a 5th round

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

tie at home to

Notts County Notts County Football Club is a professional association football, football club in Nottingham, England, which competes in EFL League Two, the fourth tier of Football in England, English football, following promotion and relegation, promotion ...

. He scored his first league goal for the club against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

on 4 April, in a 2–1 win at

Craven Cottage Craven Cottage is a football stadium in Fulham, West London, England, which has been the home of Fulham F.C. since 1896.According to the club'official website The ground's capacity is 29,589; the record attendance is 49,335, for a game agains ...

. He was cup-tied for Fulham's run to the

2010 UEFA Europa League Final The 2010 UEFA Europa League final was the final match of the 2009–10 UEFA Europa League, the first season of the revamped European football competition formerly known as the UEFA Cup. Played at the Volksparkstadion in Hamburg, Germany, on 12 May ...

. In January 2011 Okaka moved to

on loan. There, he scored his first goal against

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

for 1–0 win. In this game he and

Kamil Glik Kamil Jacek Glik (Polish pronunciation: ; born 3 February 1988) is a Polish professional association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for Ekstraklasa club KS Cracovia, Cracovia. The previous clubs Glik played for include Piast Gl ...

marking their debuts for Bari. He scored one further goal for Bari that season. Okaka sustained an injury in round 30 and missed the rest of the season. In August 2011, Okaka was attacked by Roma fans after a training session for allegedly not wishing to sign autographs.

Parma

After failing to make a single appearance for Roma in the first half of the season, on 22 January 2012, Okaka joined

on loan until the end of the season. He scored his first goal on 7 March, the opener in a 2–2 against Fiorentina. Okaka signed a permanent deal with Parma on 20 August 2012. The following day he was loaned to the newly promoted

club

Spezia La Spezia (, or ; ; , in the local ) is the capital city of the province of La Spezia and is located at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the southern part of the Liguria region of Italy. La Spezia is the second-largest city in the Liguri ...

where he made 38 appearances, scoring seven goals and assisting six more. After his loan spell, he returned to Parma for the 2013–14 season, making only two Serie A matches as a substitute.

Sampdoria

On 31 January 2014, Okaka was transferred to the fellow Serie A outfit

on a permanent deal, with Nicola Pozzi moving the opposite direction. He made a good start to his Sampdoria career, scoring five times in 13 appearances in the 2013–14 season. He scored his first goal of the 2014–15 season on 14 September 2014, a solo effort, in the 2–0 victory against

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

on 14 September 2014. On 10 June 2015, the owner and president of Sampdoria Massimo Ferrero told the Italian media that Okaka would be leaving the club.

Anderlecht

On 28 July 2015, Okaka joined Belgian side

from Sampdoria for a reported fee of €3 million.

Watford / Udinese

On 29 August 2016, Okaka joined

from Anderlecht on a five-year contract. He scored his first two goals on 10 December, against Everton in a 3–2 win. In his second season, after the departure of compatriot manager

Walter Mazzarri Walter Mazzarri (; born 1 October 1961) is an Italian professional football manager and former player. After a 14-year playing career with Italian clubs including Reggiana and Empoli, Mazzarri coached several smaller Italian sides and in 2007 ...

, he was more used as a substitute; his one-goal came on opening day, opening a 3–3 draw with

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 ...

Vicarage Road Vicarage Road is a stadium in Watford, England, and is the home stadium of EFL Championship, Championship club Watford F.C., Watford. An all-seater stadium, its current capacity is 22,200. History It has been the home of Watford since 1922, w ...

. On 8 January 2019, Okaka was loaned to

for the rest of the Serie A season, having played just 47 minutes for Watford all season across three substitute appearances. Both clubs were owned by

Giampaolo Pozzo Giampaolo Pozzo (born 25 May 1941) is an Italian businessman, currently the owner of Udinese in Italy. His son Gino is the owner of Watford in England. Pozzo sold the family business, tool maker Freud, to Robert Bosch in 2008. Udinese Calcio P ...

. He scored six goals in 16 games as the ''Bianconeri'' avoided relegation, including braces in consecutive wins over

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

and

SPAL Società Polisportiva Ars et Labor, commonly referred to by the acronym SPAL (), is a professional football club based in Ferrara, Emilia-Romagna, Italy. During the 2024–25 season the team played in Serie C, the third tier of the Italian foot ...

in May. Okaka's move to Udinese was made permanent on 2 September 2019, on a three-year contract.

International career

After gaining Italian citizenship in 2007, Okaka was selected for the Italian Under-19 side. He made his debut for the Italy U-20 team in 2008, scoring two goals. On 17 November 2009, he made his debut with the Italy U-21 squad in a match against

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

. In April 2014, Okaka revealed he was in talks with the

Nigeria Football Federation The Nigeria Football Federation (known as Nigeria Football Association until 2008) is Nigeria's association football, football sports governing body, governing body. It was formally launched in 1945 and formed the first Nigerian national football ...

about the possibility of him switching allegiance to his parents' country and play with the

Nigeria national football team The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in Men's international Association football, football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations (Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON) winners, w ...

already at 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 ...

. However, Okaka was included in the Italy squad for their friendly against

Albania Albania ( ; or ), officially the Republic of Albania (), is a country in Southeast Europe. It is located in the Balkans, on the Adriatic Sea, Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea, and shares land borders with Montenegro to ...

on 18 November 2014 by manager

Antonio Conte Antonio Conte (; born 31 July 1969) is an Italian professional Association football, football manager and former player who is currently the head coach of Serie A club Napoli. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the wo ...

. He made his debut as a substitute, replacing

Sebastian Giovinco Sebastian Giovinco (; born 26 January 1987) is an Italian former professional association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. A quick and creative player on the ball, Giovinco was a versatile attacker c ...

in the second half, and scored the only goal of the match in the victory at Sampdoria's home ground, the

Stadio Luigi Ferraris The Stadio Comunale Luigi Ferraris, also known as the Marassi from the name of the neighbourhood where it is located, is a multi-use stadium in Genoa, Italy. The home of Genoa C.F.C. and U.C. Sampdoria football clubs, it opened in 1911 and is t ...

Personal life

Okaka's twin sister, Stefania Okaka, is also a professional sportsperson. A volleyball player, she plays for

Béziers Volley Béziers (; ) is a city in southern France. It is a subprefecture of the Hérault department in the Occitanie region. Every August Béziers hosts the famous ''Feria de Béziers'', which is centred on bullfighting. A million visitors are attrac ...

of the French first division and the Italy national team.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Italy's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* * *
AIC Profile

FIGC Profile
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okaka, Stefano 1989 births Living people AS Cittadella players AS Roma players Belgian Pro League players Brescia Calcio players Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Footballers from the Province of Perugia Fulham F.C. players İstanbul Başakşehir F.K. players Italian expatriate men's footballers Italian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Italian expatriate sportspeople in England Italian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Italian men's footballers Italian people of Nigerian descent Italian twins Italy men's international footballers Italy men's under-21 international footballers Italy men's youth international footballers Men's association football forwards Modena FC 2018 players Naturalised citizens of Italy Parma Calcio 1913 players People from Castiglione del Lago Premier League players R.S.C. Anderlecht players Serie A players Serie B players Spezia Calcio players SSC Bari players Süper Lig players UC Sampdoria players Udinese Calcio players Watford F.C. players 21st-century Italian sportsmen