Taione Richard Evumena Sodje (born 20 September 2003) is an English 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

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 ...

most recently as a member of the

Manchester City F.C. EDS and Academy Manchester City F.C., Manchester City is represented at Reserve level for association football, football by the Elite Development Squad, also referred to as just the Elite Squad, or EDS, a predominantly Under-23 side that replaced the previous (mo ...

Club career

Born in

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, situated south of Leeds and east of Manchester. The city is the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire and some of its so ...

to an English mother and Nigerian father, Sodje began his footballing career with local side

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

, before a switch to

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 ...

side

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in 2015. He signed a professional contract with Manchester City in July 2021. Despite suffering an injury in late October 2021, which he described as the worst moment of his career, he returned to action for Manchester City's youth teams in April 2022. On 11 June 2025, Sodje was released by Manchester City.

International career

Eligible to represent both England and Nigeria, Sodje reportedly turned down an invitation to the England under-19 squad in October 2021. He was quoted in May 2022 as saying he would choose to represent whichever nation approached him first.

Style of play

Described by Manchester City as a "prolific goal-scorer" and a "versatile striker hocan also operate to impressive effect on both the right or left flanks", Sodje describes himself as a "goal scorer", capable of playing "across the front three".

Personal life

Sodje is the son of former professional

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

player

Bright Sodje Bright Ojamohare Sodje (born 21 April 1966) is a retired dual-code rugby player, who played for rugby league clubs; the Wakefield Trinity (Wildcats), Hull Kingston Rovers, and the Sheffield Eagles in England as well as rugby union for Wakefiel ...

, and the nephew of former Nigerian international footballers

Efe Agencia EFE, S.A. () is a Spanish international news agency, the major Spanish language, Spanish-language multimedia news agency and the world's fourth largest wire service after the Associated Press, Reuters, and Agence France-Presse. EFE was ...

and

Sam Sodje Okeremute Samuel Sodje (born 25 May 1979) is a former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Born in England to Nigerian parents, Sodje represented Nigeria at international level. Club career Early years Sodje was born in Greenwi ...

, as well as former professional footballer

Akpo Sodje Idoro Akpoeyere Ujoma "Akpo" Sodje (born 31 January 1980) is an English former professional footballer. A journeyman striker, he is known for his colourful hairstyles. With Queens Park Rangers in 2001, he was loaned out to Stevenage Borough, be ...

Career statistics

Club

;Notes

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sodje, Tai 2003 births Living people Footballers from Sheffield English people of Nigerian descent Sportspeople of Nigerian descent English men's footballers Men's association football forwards Sheffield United F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Black British sportsmen 21st-century Black British people Tai 21st-century English sportsmen