Jonathan Leko

Jonathan Kisolokele Leko (born 24 April 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Championship club Birmingham City. He began his career with West Bromwich Albion, made his senior debut as a 16-year-old in 2015, and spent time on loan at Bristol City and Charlton Athletic before joining Birmingham City in 2020.

Jonathan Leko
Personal information
Full name Jonathan Kisolokele Leko[1]
Date of birth (1999-04-24) 24 April 1999[2]
Place of birth Kinshasa, DR Congo[3]
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.82 m)[2]
Position(s) Winger[3]
Club information
Current team
 Birmingham City
Number 14
Youth career
2010–2015 West Bromwich Albion
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 West Bromwich Albion 16 (0)
2017–2018 → Bristol City (loan) 11 (0)
2019–2020 → Charlton Athletic (loan) 21 (5)
2020– Birmingham City 18 (0)
National team
2013–2015 England U16 11 (0)
2014–2016 England U17 15 (2)
2016–2017 England U18 8 (0)
2017–2019 England U19 4 (0)
2019 England U20 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:45, 6 February 2021 (UTC)

Leko was born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and grew up in England from the age of eight. He has represented England at all levels up to under-20.

Early life

Leko was born in 1999 in Kinshasa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He came to England at the age of eight with his father, who was granted asylum.[3] He grew up in the Nechells area of Birmingham,[4] and after he joined West Bromwich Albion's football academy, he was educated at Sandwell Academy, opposite the club's stadium.[5]

Club career

Early career

Leko joined West Bromwich Albion at the age of 11.[6] According to the club's academy manager, Mark Harrison, he was "a bit of a rough diamond", but by the under-14s he had developed an understanding of the game and was showing considerable creative ability.[4] He was included in the first team's 2015 pre-season tour of Austria, during which he came off the bench in a 3–1 loss against Red Bull Salzburg.[7]

Leko made his competitive debut on 23 September 2015 as a 77th-minute substitute in a League Cup defeat to Norwich City.[8][9] On 2 April 2016, he was named in the matchday squad against Sunderland, and came on for Saido Berahino in the 78th minute to make his Premier League debut at the age of 16 years and 344 days.[10] When he took the field on 30 April against West Ham United, Leko became the first player born in 1999 to start a Premier League match.[11] In the last match of the season, a 1–1 draw with Liverpool, he set up Salomón Rondón's goal with a solo run.[12] Before the match, Leko received the club's Young Player of the Season award.[13] On 28 June, he agreed terms on his first professional contract, a three-year deal lasting to June 2019.[14]

He made nine Premier League appearances for West Bromwich Albion in 2016–17. Away to Stoke City on 24 September 2016, he took a corner from which Rondón headed a stoppage-time equaliser.[15] He then won the Premier League 2 Player of the Month award for December with the West Bromwich Albion U23s.[16]

Leko was one of 98 nominations for the European Golden Boy award for 2017, but did not make the 24-man shortlist.[17]

Loans

Leko made one substitute appearance for West Brom, in the 2017–18 EFL Cup,[18] before joining Championship club Bristol City on 28 August on a season-long loan.[19] He was recalled in January 2018 after 11 goalless appearances, so that he could by assessed by new manager Alan Pardew.[20]

West Bromwich Albion were relegated to the Championship in 2018, but Leko played little during the 2018–19 season.[21]

On 8 August 2019, Leko and teammate Sam Field joined Charlton Athletic on a season-long loan.[22] He scored his first goal against Reading on 31 August. Having scored five goals from 21 appearances,[23] Leko suffered an ACL injury during the match against Queens Park Rangers on 23 December which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He returned to his parent club for treatment.[24]

Leko made a complaint to the Football Association about an incident of racial abuse by Leeds United goalkeeper Kiko Casilla in a match in September. Casilla was found guilty by an independent panel in February 2020 and received an eight-match ban and a £60,000 fine.[25] Leko said afterwards that he had been disappointed both by the delay in resolving the issue and by the lack of support from the Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) and from such anti-racism organisations as Kick It Out and Show Racism the Red Card.[26]

Birmingham City

Leko signed a three-year contract with Birmingham on 28 August 2020. The fee was undisclosed,[27] but reported as £1 million.[28] After ten months out with the ACL injury,[29] he finally made his Birmingham City debut on 17 October, as a substitute in a 1–0 defeat at home to Sheffield Wednesday.[30]

International career

Leko represented England at under-16 level.[3] He was ever-present for the under-17s in qualifying for the 2016 European Championships.[31] Against Turkey in the elite round, he set up the first goal for Reiss Nelson and scored the second in a 3–1 win.[32] However, he was unable to take part in the tournament proper because West Bromwich Albion pulled him out of the squad so that he could play in the final two games of the Premier League season.[31]

Leko received his first call-up to the England under-18 team for friendlies against Italy and Israel in September 2016;[33] he appeared in both games.[34] He made four friendly appearances for the under-19s in 2017, but played no competitive matches at that level.[35]

Leko made his under-20 debut on 5 September 2019, starting in a goalless draw with the Netherlands at the New Meadow, Shrewsbury, and played twice more at that level.[36]

Career statistics
As of match played 6 February 2021
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
West Bromwich Albion 2015–16[8] Premier League 500010—60
2016–17[37] Premier League900000—90
2017–18[18] Premier League000010—10
2018–19[21] Championship 2020211[lower-alpha 1]071
2019–20[23] Championship00———00
Total 160204110231
Bristol City (loan) 2017–18[18] Championship 110———110
West Bromwich Albion U21 2018–19[21] ———2[lower-alpha 2]121
Charlton Athletic (loan) 2019–20[23] Championship 2150000—215
Birmingham City 2020–21[38] Championship 1801000—190
Career total 665304131767
  1. Appearance in EFL Championship play-offs
  2. Appearances in EFL Trophy

Honours

Individual

References
  1. "Clubs announce 2015/16 Barclays Premier League squads". Premier League. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 24 September 2015.
  2. "Jonathan Leko". West Bromwich Albion F.C. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  3. Harrison, David (4 October 2014). "West Bromwich Albion hope to keep hold of 15-year-old Jonathan Leko". The Independent. London. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  4. Suart, Paul (6 April 2016). "West Brom coach compares Jonathan Leko's footballing journey to that of Saido Berahino". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  5. "Teenage striker Jonathan Leko to be handed three-year contract at West Brom". Express & Star. Wolverhampton. 25 April 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  6. "Delighted Leko is ready to kick on". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  7. Howell, Bill (8 July 2015). "West Brom 1 Red Bull Salzburg 3 – Albion's pre-season gets off to a losing start". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  8. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  9. Suart, Paul (24 September 2015). "How the West Brom players rated in the Capital One Cup defeat at Norwich". Birmingham Mail. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  10. Gheerbrant, James (2 April 2016). "Sunderland 0–0 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  11. Chapman, Caroline (30 April 2016). "West Bromwich Albion 0–3 West Ham United". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  12. "Jordon Ibe strikes to earns Liverpool draw at West Bromwich Albion". ESPN.co.uk. PA Sport. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  13. "Albion announce end-of-season awards winners". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 15 May 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  14. "Leko agrees first professional contract". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 28 June 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. Oscroft, Tim (24 September 2016). "Stoke City 1–1 West Bromwich Albion". BBC Sport. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. "Leko nets PL2 Player of the Month award". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 13 January 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  17. Prince-Wright, Joe (12 April 2017). "2017 Golden Boy nominees: Pulisic, Carter-Vickers included". NBC Sports. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
    Burton, Chris (19 September 2017). "Rashford, Mbappe and Dembele among nominees for Golden Boy award". Goal.com. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  18. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  19. "West Bromwich Albion: Bristol City sign winger Jonathan Leko on a season's loan". BBC Sport. 28 August 2017. Retrieved 30 August 2017.
  20. Newman, Dan (1 January 2018). "Bristol City boss Lee Johnson explains reason behind Jonathan Leko's return to West Bromwich Albion". Bristol Post. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. "Duo join Addicks on loan". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 8 August 2019. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  23. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  24. "Jonathan Leko: West Brom forward and Charlton loanee out for season with ACL injury". BBC Sport. 27 December 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  25. "Kiko Casilla: Leeds goalkeeper gets eight-match ban for racism". BBC Sport. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 5 March 2020.
    "FA reveals written reasons for Kiko Casilla ban". This Is Local London. Press Association. 3 March 2020. Archived from the original on 3 September 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  26. "Jonathan Leko statement following FA verdict". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 4 March 2020. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
    Sheth, Dharmesh (22 May 2020). "Jonathan Leko: West Brom winger reflects on incident with Leeds' Kiko Casilla". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  27. "Leko in at Blues". Birmingham City F.C. 28 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  28. Dick, Brian (28 August 2020). "Confirmed: Birmingham City beat Sheffield Wednesday to West Brom winger deal". Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  29. Dick, Brian (1 October 2020). "'Really good' – Aitor Karanka's mouthwatering verdict as Birmingham City given boost". Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  30. "Birmingham City 0–1 Sheffield Wednesday". BBC Sport. 17 October 2020. Retrieved 17 October 2020.
  31. "Leko to miss Euros to stay with Albion". West Bromwich Albion F.C. 1 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  32. Maxwell, Peter (24 March 2016). "Classy England Men's U17s see off Turkey in Chesterfield". The Football Association (The FA). Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  33. Veevers, Nicholas (24 August 2016). "England U18s squad named to face Italy and Israel next month". The FA. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  34. Quinn, Derek (1 September 2016). "Mason Mount scores twice as England Under-18s beat Italy". The FA. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
    "England's kids too good for Israel in Morecambe". Lancashire Post. 6 September 2016. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  35. "England's matches: the under 19s: 2010–20". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin and Glen Isherwood. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  36. Moore, David (5 September 2019). "England U20s kick off new campaign with a goalless draw against Holland". The FA. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
    "England's matches: the under 20s". England Football Online. Chris Goodwin and Glen Isherwood. 20 November 2019. Retrieved 3 September 2020.
  37. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  38. "Games played by Jonathan Leko in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 February 2021.
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