Caleb Okoli
{{short description|Italian footballer (born 2001)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2022}}
{{Infobox football biography
| name = Caleb Okoli
| image =
| caption =
| full_name = Memeh Caleb Okoli{{cite web |url=https://www.premierleague.com/news/4110099 |title=2024/25 Premier League squad lists |publisher=Premier League |date=13 September 2024 |access-date=13 September 2024}}
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|2001|7|13|df=y}}{{cite web |url=https://www.premierleague.com/players/66011/Caleb-Okoli/overview |title=Caleb Okoli: Overview |publisher=Premier League |access-date=13 September 2024}}
| birth_place = Vicenza, Italy
| position = Centre-back
| currentclub = Leicester City
| clubnumber = 5
| youthyears1 = 2015–2016
| youthclubs1 = Vicenza
| youthyears2 = 2016–2020
| youthclubs2 = Atalanta
| years1 = 2020–2024
| clubs1 = Atalanta
| caps1 = 17
| goals1 = 0
| years2 = 2020–2021
| clubs2 = → SPAL (loan)
| caps2 = 16
| goals2 = 1
| years3 = 2021–2022
| clubs3 = → Cremonese (loan)
| caps3 = 27
| goals3 = 0
| years4 = 2023–2024
| clubs4 = → Frosinone (loan)
| caps4 = 34
| goals4 = 0
| years5 = 2024–
| clubs5 = Leicester City
| caps5 = 18
| goals5 = 1
| nationalyears1 = 2019–2020
| nationalteam1 = Italy U19
| nationalcaps1 = 10
| nationalgoals1 = 0
| nationalyears2 = 2021
| nationalteam2 = Italy U20
| nationalcaps2 = 1
| nationalgoals2 = 0
| nationalyears3 = 2021–2023
| nationalteam3 = Italy U21
| nationalcaps3 = 14
| nationalgoals3 = 1
| club-update = 19:16, 12 April 2025 (UTC)
| nationalteam-update =
}}
Memeh Caleb Okoli (born 13 July 2001) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for {{English football updater|LeicestC}} club Leicester City.
Club career
Okoli joined the youth teams of Atalanta in the summer of 2015 and started playing for their Under-19 squad in the 2018–19 season.{{TuttoCalciatori|Okoli_Caleb}} He was occasionally called up to Atalanta's senior team in that season and the next, but never appeared on the field. He also represented the club in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League.
On 25 September 2020, he joined Serie B club SPAL on loan.{{cite web|publisher=SPAL|url=https://www.spalferrara.it/okoli-dallatalanta-e-ranieri-dalla-fiorentina-in-prestito-alla-spal/|title=OKOLI DALL'ATALANTA E RANIERI DALLA FIORENTINA IN PRESTITO ALLA SPAL|trans-title=Okoli from Atalanta and Ranieri from Fiorentina on loan at SPAL|date=25 September 2020|accessdate=25 November 2020|language=it|archive-date=25 September 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200925131154/https://www.spalferrara.it/okoli-dallatalanta-e-ranieri-dalla-fiorentina-in-prestito-alla-spal/|url-status=dead}}
He made his Serie B debut for SPAL on 21 November 2020 in a game against Pescara. He started and played the full game in a 2–0 victory.{{cite web|publisher=Soccerway|url=https://int.soccerway.com/matches/2020/11/21/italy/serie-b/spal-1907/pescara-calcio/3372652/|title=SPAL v Pescara game report|date=21 November 2020}}
He grabbed his first ever career goal on 10 April 2021 in a Serie B game, which was in a 1–2 away win against Leece, where he scored the winner in the 54th minute.{{Cite web |title=SPAL 2-1 Lecce (10 Apr, 2021) Final Score - ESPN (UK) |url=https://www.espn.co.uk/football/match/_/gameId/584118/spal-lecce |access-date=2025-04-12 |website=ESPN |language=en}}
On 12 July 2021, he joined Serie B club Cremonese on a season-long loan.{{cite web|publisher=Cremonese|url=https://www.uscremonese.it/okoli-nuovo-calciatore-grigiorosso/|title=OKOLI NUOVO CALCIATORE GRIGIOROSSO|date=12 July 2021|language=it|access-date=12 July 2021|archive-date=19 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211019041159/https://www.uscremonese.it/okoli-nuovo-calciatore-grigiorosso/|url-status=dead}}
Okoli returned to Atalanta in July 2022, after his loan ended, and was integrated into Atalanta's first team for the following season. He made his Serie A debut with Atalanta on 13 August 2022 in a 2–0 victory over Sampdoria.{{cite web |url=https://www.alfredopedulla.com/okoli-festeggia-il-debutto-in-a-con-latalanta-la-prima-non-si-scorda/ |title=Okoli festeggia il debutto in A con l'Atalanta: "La prima non si scorda" |date=14 August 2022 |website=alfredopedulla.com |access-date=2 September 2022 |language=it}}
On 1 September 2023, Okoli moved to newly promoted Serie A club Frosinone on a season-long loan.{{cite news |url=https://www.atalanta.it/en/news/caleb-okoli-joins-frosinone/ |title=Caleb Okoli joins Frosinone |date=1 September 2023 |publisher=Atalanta BC |access-date=1 September 2023}}
=Leicester City=
On 9 July 2024, Okoli signed for newly promoted Premier League club Leicester City on a five-year deal.{{cite web|url=https://www.lcfc.com/news/4054487/defender-caleb-okoli-signs-from-atalanta?lang=en|title=Defender Caleb Okoli Signs From Atalanta|website=www.lcfc.com|date=9 July 2024|accessdate=9 July 2024}} Okoli made his competitive debut for the club on 1 September 2024 in a 1–2 home defeat to Aston Villa.{{Cite web |last=Stevens |first=Sam |date=2024-01-09 |title=Okoli: We're On The Right Way |url=https://www.lcfc.com/pages/en/media-article/okoli-were-on-the-right-way |access-date=2025-01-05 |website=www.lcfc.com}} He then grabbed his first-ever Premier League goal on 12 April 2025 in a 2–2 away draw to Brighton.{{Cite news |last=Aarons |first=Ed |date=2025-04-12 |title=Caleb Okoli pegs Brighton back as Leicester end miserable run of defeats |url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/2025/apr/12/brighton-leicester-premier-league-match-report |access-date=2025-04-12 |work=The Observer |language=en-GB |issn=0029-7712}}
International career
Born in Italy to parents of Nigerian origin, Okoli is Igbo and Yoruba by descent.{{Cite web|url=https://www.allnigeriasoccer.com/read_news.php?nid=31766|title=Atalanta's Okoli Could Spark International Tug-Of-War Between Nigeria And Italy:: All Nigeria Soccer - The Complete Nigerian Football Portal|website=www.allnigeriasoccer.com}} He was first called up to represent Italy in 2019 with the Italy U19 side.{{cite web|publisher=Italian Football Federation|url=https://figc.it/it/nazionali/nazionali-in-cifre/dettaglio-convocato/?calciatoreId=51917&squadraId=24|title=Okoli Italy U19 profile|accessdate=25 November 2020|language=it}}
He made his debut with the Italy U21 team on 7 September 2021, playing as a starter in the qualifying match won 1–0 against Montenegro.{{Cite web|url=https://www.uefa.com/under21/match/2031839--italy-vs-montenegro/|title=Italy 1–0 Montenegro|date=7 September 2021|access-date=7 September 2021|publisher=UEFA}} He was called up to the senior Italy squad for 2024–25 UEFA Nations League matches against France and Israel on 6 and 9 September 2024, respectively.{{cite news
|url=https://www.lcfc.com/news/4106694/okoli-in-line-for-italy-debut-in-upcoming-internationals?lang=en
|title=Okoli In Line For Italy Debut In Upcoming Internationals
|publisher=lcfc.com
|date=4 September 2024 |access-date=9 September 2024}}
Career statistics
{{updated|match played 12 April 2025}}{{Soccerway|590504}}
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"
|+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2"|Club !rowspan="2"|Season !colspan="3"|League !colspan="2"|National cup !colspan="2"|League cup !colspan="2"|Europe !colspan="2"|Total | ||||||||||
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rowspan="5"|Atalanta
|0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2021–22
|Serie A |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23
|Serie A |17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 17 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24
|Serie A |0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
| colspan="2"|Total
!17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 0 | 0 | 17 | 0 | ||
| SPAL (loan)
|16 | 1 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 19 | 1 | |||
| Cremonese (loan)
|Serie B |27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 28 | 0 | |||
| Frosinone (loan)
|Serie A |34 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | colspan="2"|— | 37 | 0 | |||
| Leicester City
|18 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | colspan="2"|— | 22 | 1 | ||
| colspan="3"|Career total
!112 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 123 | 2 |
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{commons category}}
- [https://www.atalanta.it/en/characters/caleb-okoli-2/ Profile] at the Atalanta B.C. website
- [https://www.lcfc.com/pages/en/player-detail-statistics-defender/473341 Profile] at the Leicester City F.C. website
- {{Soccerway|memeh-caleb-okoli/590504}}
{{Leicester City F.C. squad}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Okoli, Caleb}}
Category:Footballers from Vicenza
Category:Italian men's footballers
Category:Men's association football defenders
Category:Frosinone Calcio players
Category:Leicester City F.C. players
Category:Italy men's youth international footballers
Category:Italian expatriate men's footballers
Category:Expatriate men's footballers in England
Category:Italian expatriate sportspeople in England