Orji Okwonkwo

Orji Okwonkwo (born 19 January 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays for Canadian club Montreal Impact, on loan from Italian club Bologna, as a striker.

Orji Okwonkwo

Personal information
Date of birth	(1998-01-19) 19 January 1998[1]
Place of birth	Benin City, Nigeria[2]
Height	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Playing position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Montreal Impact (on loan from Bologna)
Number	18
Youth career
	FC Abuja Academy
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2016–	Bologna	27	(3)
2018	→ Brescia (loan)	13	(1)
2019	→ Montreal Impact (loan)	28	(8)
2020–	→ Montreal Impact (loan)	0	(0)
National team^‡
	Nigeria U17
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 12:23, 8 October 2019 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 06:08, 20 July 2018 (UTC)

Club career

He signed for Bologna in August 2016.[4] On 20 November 2016, Okwonkwo made his debut in Serie A with Bologna in a victory against Palermo.[5] On 24 September 2017, Okwonkwo scored his first Serie A goal against Sassuolo.[6]

On 31 January 2018, Okwonkwo signed a loan contract with Brescia until 30 June 2018.[7]

On 12 February 2019, Okwonkwo signed a loan contract with the Montreal Impact until 31 December 2019.[8] On 24 January 2020, Montreal Impact re-acquired Okwonkwo on a loan with a purchase option at the end of the 2020 season.[9] He said he was looking forward to working with manager Thierry Henry.[10]

International career

Okwonkwo represented Nigeria under-17 at the 2015 FIFA U-17 World Cup, winning the tournament.[1][11]

Career statistics

As of 25 October 2019[12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Bologna	2016–17	Serie A	9	0	2	0	0	0	11	0
	2017–18		10	3	0	0	0	0	10	3
	2018–19		8	0	1	0	0	0	9	0
	Total		27	3	3	0	0	0	30	3
Brescia (loan)	2017–18	Serie B	13	1	0	0	0	0	13	1
Montreal Impact (loan)	2019	MLS	28	8	0	0	0	0	28	8
Career total			68	12	3	0	0	0	71	12

Honours

Club

Montreal Impact

• Canadian Championship: 2019[13]

International

Nigeria U17

• FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2015[1]

References

1. Orji Okwonkwo – FIFA competition record
2. Orji Okwonkwo at BDFutbol
3. "Orji Okwonkwo | Montreal Impact".
4. Oluwashina Okeleji (24 August 2016). "Orji Okonkwo: Nigerian teenage striker joins Bologna". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
5. "Debutto in Serie A per Orji Okwonkwo" (in Italian). calciomercato.com. 20 November 2016. Retrieved 20 November 2016.
6. "Primo gol in Serie A per Okwonkwo" (in Italian). Quotidiano.net. 24 September 2017. Retrieved 24 September 2017.
7. "Okwonkwo in prestito al Brescia" (in Italian). tuttomercatoweb.com. 31 January 2018. Retrieved 31 January 2018.
8. "Impact acquires Nigerian striker Orji Okwonkwo on loan". montrealimpact.com. 12 February 2019. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
9. Bogert, Tom (24 January 2020). "Montreal Impact re-acquire attacker Orji Okwonkwo on loan from Bologna". Retrieved 25 January 2020.
10. "Orji Okwonkwo: Nigerian 'feels lucky' to play under Thierry Henry". 27 January 2020 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
11. "Time on Okwonkwo's side". FIFA. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 20 July 2018.
12. Orji Okwonkwo at Soccerway. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
13. "Montréal takes 2019 Canadian Championship title". Retrieved 28 September 2019.