Uche Henry Agbo (born 4 December 1995) is a Nigerian 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 either a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

or a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

for

Kazakhstan Premier League The Kazakhstan Professional Football League (, ''Qazaqstan Premier Ligasy''), commonly referred to as the Kazakh Premier League or simply the Premier League, is a professional association football league in Kazakhstan and the highest level of the ...

club

FC Aktobe Football Club Aktobe (), commonly referred to as FC Aktobe or simply Aktobe, is a professional association football, football club based in Aktobe. They last played in the Kazakhstan Premier League, the highest level of Football in Kazakhstan, Ka ...

Club career

Born in

Kano Kano may refer to: Places *Kano State, a state in Northern Nigeria *Kano (city), a city in Nigeria, and the capital of Kano State ** Kingdom of Kano, a Hausa kingdom between the 10th and 14th centuries ** Sultanate of Kano, a Hausa kingdom betwee ...

, Uche started playing for local lowly Bai Boys, and moved to

Taraba Taraba is a state in north-eastern Nigeria, named after the Taraba River, which traverses the southern part of the state. It is known as "Nature's Gift to the Nation". Its capital is Jalingo. The state's main ethnic groups are the Fulani, Mu ...

in 2010. In May 2011 he signed for JUTH, and appeared regularly for the side, scoring once. In January 2012 Uche joined Enyimba International along with teammate James Amankwei. He made his debut for the club on 28 April 2013, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–0 win against

Dolphins A dolphin is an aquatic mammal in the cetacean clade Odontoceti (toothed whale). Dolphins belong to the families Delphinidae (the oceanic dolphins), Platanistidae (the Indian river dolphins), Iniidae (the New World river dolphins), Pontopori ...

. In October 2013, Uche went on a trial at

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 ...

, signing a four-year deal in the following month. In March 2014 he moved to

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

, linking up with the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns also until 2018 and being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: 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 ...

. On 23 February 2015, Uche made his first team – and

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

– debut, replacing

Javi Márquez Javier "Javi" Márquez Moreno (; born 11 May 1986) is a Spanish former professional association football, footballer who played as a central midfielder. Club career Espanyol Born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Márquez was a product of hometown RCD ...

in the dying minutes of a 2–1 away loss against

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

. On 25 July of the following year, he signed a five-year contract with

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 ...

club

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 ...

, being immediately loaned back to Granada for one year. On 11 July 2017, Uche joined Belgian club

Standard de Liège Standard may refer to: Symbols * Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs * Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification Norms, conventions or requirements * Standard (metrology), an object th ...

. On 31 January 2019, he returned to Spain and its first division after agreeing to a six-month loan at

Rayo Vallecano Rayo Vallecano de Madrid, S.A.D. (), often abbreviated to Rayo (Spanish for "thunderbolt"), is a Spanish professional football club based in the Villa de Vallecas district of Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish foot ...

, with an option to buy. In doing so, he said that he had turned down a big-money move to China, as his career development was more important. On 21 January 2020, after a six-month loan spell at

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

, Uche agreed to a deal with

Deportivo de La Coruña Real Club Deportivo de La Coruña (), commonly known as Deportivo La Coruña () or simply Depor, is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in the city of A Coruña, Galicia, that competes in the Segunda División, the ...

, still owned by Standard. On 1 September 2021, following mass exodus from La Coruña, Agbo was announced as a signing of reigning Slovak champions Slovan Bratislava on a three-year contract. His performance against Slovan from the

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 ...

was recalled in his introduction.

International career

Uche got his first call up to the senior

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

side to replace the injured

Leon Balogun Leon Aderemi Balogun (born 28 June 1988) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for club Aris Limassol. Balogun has previously played for Türkiyemspor Berlin, Hannover 96, Werder Bremen, Fortuna Düsseldorf, Darms ...

for a

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

qualifier against

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

in October 2016. On 1 June 2017, he made his international debut for Nigeria in a 3–0 win against

Togo Togo, officially the Togolese Republic, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Ghana to Ghana–Togo border, the west, Benin to Benin–Togo border, the east and Burkina Faso to Burkina Faso–Togo border, the north. It is one of the le ...

in a friendly replacing

Wilfred Ndidi Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. Ndidi is known for his defensive ability and intelligence. Club ca ...

. Uche was included in Nigeria's preliminary 30-man squad for the

in Russia, but he did not make the final 23-man squad.

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Slovan Bratislava * Fortuna Liga: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agbo, Uche Henry 1995 births Living people Footballers from Kano Nigerian Christians Nigerian men's footballers Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Taraba F.C. players JUTH F.C. players Enyimba F.C. players Udinese Calcio players Club Recreativo Granada players Granada CF footballers Rayo Vallecano players Deportivo de La Coruña players Watford F.C. players Standard Liège players S.C. Braga players ŠK Slovan Bratislava players FC Aktobe players La Liga players Segunda División players Segunda División B players Belgian Pro League players Primeira Liga players Slovak First Football League players 2. Liga (Slovakia) players Kazakhstan Premier League players Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kazakhstan Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia Expatriate men's footballers in Kazakhstan 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen