Valentine Ozornwafor (born 1 June 1999) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a central defender for Ligue 2 club Sochaux on loan from Sporting Charleroi.
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Valentine James Ozornwafor | ||
Date of birth | (1999-06-01) 1 June 1999 (age 23) | ||
Place of birth | Nsukka, Nigeria | ||
Height | 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in)[1] | ||
Position(s) | Centre back | ||
Club information | |||
Current team | Sochaux | ||
Number | 3 | ||
Youth career | |||
Brown Ideye Challenge | |||
2017–2019 | Enyimba | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2019 | Enyimba | 2 | (0) |
2019–2022 | Galatasaray | 1 | (0) |
2019–2020 | → Almería (loan) | 4 | (0) |
2021–2022 | → Sporting Charleroi (loan) | 13 | (0) |
2022– | Sporting Charleroi | 0 | (0) |
2022– | → Sochaux (loan) | 0 | (0) |
National team‡ | |||
2019 | Nigeria U20 | 7 | (0) |
2019 | Nigeria U23 | 1 | (0) |
2021– | Nigeria | 1 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 10 April 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 02:21, 6 June 2021 (UTC) |
Born in Port Harcourt, Ozonwafor joined Enyimba in 2017, after impressing while playing for a local side in a friendly against the club.[2] He made his first team debut on 3 March, in a 0–0 away draw against Bendel Insurance,[3] and played his second match on 17 March, in a draw at Sunshine Stars for the same scoreline.[4]
On 28 June 2019, it was announced that Ozornwafor signed a four year deal with Galatasaray,[5] for a rumoured fee of €300,000.[6]
On 22 August, he joined Spanish club UD Almería on loan for the 2019-20 season.[7] Ozornwafor made his league debut on 6 October 2019, coming on as a second-half substitute for Jonathan in a 0–0 away draw against Deportivo de La Coruña.[8]
In the statement made by the Galatasaray club on 21 August 2021, "An agreement has been reached with Charleroi for the temporary transfer of our professional football player Ozornwafor for one year. We wish our player success in his new club."[9][10]
Following the loan, Charleroi acquired Ozornwafor's rights and loaned him to Sochaux in France on 8 July 2022.[11]
Ozornwafor represented Nigeria at under-20 level in the 2019 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations[12] and in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.[13] He was first called up to the full side in March 2019, for a friendly game against Seychelles and Egypt,[14] but was only an unused substitute.[15] He debuted with Nigeria in a 1–0 friendly loss to Cameroon on 4 June 2021.[16]
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard – current squad | |
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