| Blessing Eleke | |
| Fullname: | Blessing Chibuike Eleke |
| Birth Date: | 5 March 1996 |
| Birth Place: | Nigeria |
| Height: | 1.90 m[1] |
| Position: | Striker |
| Youthyears1: | –2014 |
| Youthclubs1: | Flying Sports Academy |
| Youthyears2: | 2014 |
| Youthclubs2: | Gorica |
| Years1: | 2014–2015 |
| Clubs1: | Gorica |
| Caps1: | 37 |
| Goals1: | 15 |
| Years2: | 2016–2017 |
| Clubs2: | Olimpija Ljubljana |
| Caps2: | 43 |
| Goals2: | 10 |
| Years3: | 2017–2018 |
| Clubs3: | Ashdod |
| Caps3: | 27 |
| Goals3: | 4 |
| Years4: | 2018–2020 |
| Clubs4: | Luzern |
| Caps4: | 58 |
| Goals4: | 17 |
| Years5: | 2020–2022 |
| Clubs5: | Beerschot |
| Caps5: | 22 |
| Goals5: | 1 |
| Years6: | 2021–2022 |
| Clubs6: | → Gençlerbirligi SK (loan) |
| Caps6: | 24 |
| Goals6: | 7 |
| Years7: | 2022–2023 |
| Clubs7: | Kashima Antlers |
| Caps7: | 6 |
| Goals7: | 1 |
| Years8: | 2024 |
| Clubs8: | Istiklol |
| Caps8: | 10 |
| Goals8: | 6 |
| Pcupdate: | 10:07, 4 August 2024 (UTC) |
Blessing Eleke (born 5 March 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker who last played for Istiklol. He previously played for Gorica, Olimpija Ljubljana, Ashdod, Luzern, Beerschot, Gençlerbirligi and Kashima Antlers.
Eleke grew up in Lagos with his three brothers and four sisters.[2] He started playing football at Flying Sports Academy in his home country, before having an unsuccessful trial at Serie A club Sassuolo. Later on, he admitted that the transition from Nigeria to Europe was a difficult task to handle at the beginning.
Eleke signed for Olimpija Ljubljana in January 2016 for a reported fee of €750,000.[3] On 10 April 2016, in a league fixture versus Zavrč, Olimpija's manager Nikolić reportedly called Eleke a "black idiot", for elaborately celebrating an injury-time equalizer in an eventual 1–1 draw.[4] Nikolić's contract was eventually terminated by mutual consent on 18 April 2016.,[5] [6] although Eleke asked club president Milan Mandarić not to sack the manager.[7] Eleke revealed that, although he considered leaving the club, he did not want to see his coach sacked, as he did not believe in eye for an eye.
In August 2017, Eleke transferred to Israeli Premier League club Ashdod for a reported fee of €800,000.[8] On 27 July 2018, Eleke signed a four-year contract with Swiss Super League club FC Luzern for a reported fee of approximately 1 million Swiss francs.[9] After being cleared to play for Luzern,[10] he managed to score on his debut, helping his club get past Lugano 4–2.[11]
On 1 September 2021, Eleke was loaned out to Turkish club Gençlerbirligi SK for the rest of the season.
On 1 August 2022, Kashima Antlers confirmed an agreement with K Beerschot VA for him to join on a complete transfer, becoming one of the few Nigerian footballers to play in Japan. [12] Eleke only made 6 appearances for the club over two seasons and was released from the club when his contract expired at the end of the 2023 season.[13]
On 21 March 2024, Tajikistan Higher League club Istiklol announced the signing of Eleke to a one-year contract.[14] On 20 April, Eleke scored a Hattrick for Istiklol in their 6-0 victory over Kuktosh Rudaki in the Tajikistan Higher League.[15]
| Club | Season | League | National Cup | League Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | |||
| Gorica | 2014–15 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 17 | 3 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 0 | 19 | 3 | |
| 2015–16 | 19 | 12 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 20 | 12 | |||
| Total | 36 | 15 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | 2 | 0 | 39 | 15 | |||
| Olimpija Ljubljana | 2015–16 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 12 | 3 | |
| 2016–17 | 30 | 5 | 5 | 1 | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 2 | colspan="2" | - | 37 | 7 | |||
| 2017–18 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 5 | 2 | |||
| Total | 45 | 10 | 5 | 1 | - | - | 4 | 2 | - | - | 54 | 12 | |||
| Ashdod | 2017–18 | Israeli Premier League | 27 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 31 | 6 | |
| Luzern | 2018–19 | Swiss Super League | 32 | 13 | 4 | 2 | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 38 | 15 | |
| 2019–20 | 26 | 4 | 2 | 1 | colspan="2" | - | 4 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 32 | 5 | |||
| Total | 58 | 17 | 6 | 3 | - | - | 6 | 0 | - | - | 70 | 20 | |||
| Beerschot | 2020–21 | Belgian Pro League | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 21 | 1 | |
| 2021–22 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 22 | 1 | 1 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 23 | 1 | |||
| Gençlerbirliği (loan) | 2021–22 | TFF First League | 24 | 7 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 24 | 7 | |
| Kashima Antlers | 2022 | J1 League | 4 | 1 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 4 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | colspan="2" | - | 2 | 0 | |||
| Total | 6 | 1 | 0 | 0 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 | 1 | |||
| Istiklol | 2024[16] | Tajikistan Higher League | 10 | 6 | 0 | 0 | colspan="2" | - | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 7 | |
| Career total | 228 | 61 | 17 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 10 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 258 | 70 | |||
Olimpija Ljubljana
Istiklol