Tolu Arokodare

Tolu Arokodare
Personal information
Full name Toluwalase Emmanuel Arokodare
Date of birth (2000-11-23) 23 November 2000 (age 24)
Place of birth Festac Town, Lagos, Nigeria
Height 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)
Position(s) Centre-forward
Team information
Current team
 Genk
Number 99
Youth career
Kash Academy
International Sports Academy
Flying Sports Academy
Box2Box FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2023 Valmiera 32 (22)
2020–2021 → 1. FC Köln (loan) 10 (0)
2021–2023 → Amiens (loan) 55 (14)
2023– Genk 89 (35)
International career‡
2025– Nigeria 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 22:43, 3 May 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:38, 31 May 2025

Toluwalase Emmanuel Arokodare (born 23 November 2000), commonly referred to as Tolu, is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a centre-forward for Belgian club Genk and the Nigeria national team.[1] He is the winner of the 2025 Ebony Shoe, awarded to the best African player in Belgium.[2]

Career

[edit]

During his youth in Nigeria, Arokodare played for Kash Academy and Flying Sports Academy in Festac, as well as the Segun Odegbami International College and Sports Academy. He later joined the Box2Box FC academy in Surulere, Lagos, and had trials with European clubs SC Freiburg and Toulouse. He then joined Latvian club Valmiera in June 2019.[3] In September 2020, Arokodare was loaned to German club 1. FC Köln for the 2020–21 season.[4] He made his professional debut for Köln in the Bundesliga on 26 September 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 76th minute for Sebastian Andersson in the away match against Arminia Bielefeld, which finished as a 1–0 loss.[5] On 28 June 2021, Arokodare joined Ligue 2 club Amiens on a two-year loan deal with an option to buy.[6]

On 31 January 2023, Arokodare joined Belgian Pro League side Genk on a permanent deal, signing a four-and-a-half-year deal,[7] scoring on his debut as substitute against Gent in a 3–2 away win.

Tolu was involved for the rest of the season in Genk's title challenge, and lying in third place heading into the final day, needed a home win over league leaders Royal Antwerp to clinch the club their first title since 2019, allied with second-placed Union Saint-Gilloise dropping points to Club Brugge. With results going their way going into stoppage time, Toby Alderweireld equalised in the 94th minute for Antwerp for a 2-2 draw, denying Genk the crown.[8][9]

Tolu hit 20 goals in the 2024-25 Belgian Pro League season for Genk, earning him the Ebony Shoe as best player in Belgium of African extraction. Tolu beat teammate Zakaria El Ouahdi, Union players Noah Sadiki and Promise David as well as Club Brugge midfielder Raphael Onyedika to the honour. [10][11]

For that 2024-25 campaign, Genk had led the league from August to April, but a late-season slump of one point in six games during the title play-offs saw them fall form first to third.[12]

Personal life

[edit]

Arokodare was born in Festac Town in Lagos, Nigeria.[3]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
As of match played 3 May 2025
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Continental Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Valmiera 2019 Virsliga 16 7 1 0 — 17 7
2020 16 15 — 1[b] 0 17 15
Total 32 22 1 0 1 0 34 22
1. FC Köln (loan) 2020–21 Bundesliga 10 0 1 0 — 11 0
Amiens (loan) 2021–22 Ligue 2 35 8 5 5 — 40 13
2022–23 20 6 3 2 — 23 8
Total 55 14 8 7 — 63 21
Genk 2022–23 Belgian Pro League 11 2 — — 11 2
2023–24 40 12 1 0 11[c] 3 52 15
2024–25 38 21 5 2 — 43 23
Total 89 35 6 2 11 3 105 40
Career total 188 71 16 9 12 3 216 83
  1. ^ Includes Latvian Cup, DFB-Pokal, Coupe de France, Belgian Cup
  2. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Two appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League, seven appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

[edit]
As of match played 31 May 2025
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Nigeria 2025 3 0
Total 3 0

Honours

[edit]

Individual

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Tolu Arokodare at WorldFootball.net Edit this at Wikidata
  2. ^ "Tolu Arokodare wins the 34th Ebony Shoe". KRC Genk. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  3. ^ a b Babatunde, Ojora (23 July 2020). "The first word I said was goal – Toluwalase Arokodare". OJB Sport. Archived from the original on 23 July 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  4. ^ "FC verpflichtet Tolu Arokodare" [FC signs Tolu Arokodare]. FC.de (in German). 1. FC Köln. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 18 September 2020.
  5. ^ "Germany » Bundesliga 2020/2021 » 2. Round » Arminia Bielefeld – 1. FC Köln 1:0". WorldFootball.net. 26 September 2020. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
  6. ^ "TOLUWALASE AROKODARE EST AMIÉNOIS!" (in French). Amiens SC. 28 June 2021. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
  7. ^ "JONGE NIGERIAAN AROKODARE (22) KOMT GENKSE VOORHOEDE VERSTERKEN" (in Dutch). K.R.C. Genk. 31 January 2023. Retrieved 1 February 2023.
  8. ^ "Royal Antwerp win first Belgian title in 66 years after Toby Alderweireld's stoppage-time equaliser". BBC. 4 June 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.
  9. ^ "Alderweireld earns Royal Antwerp first Belgian league title in 66 years". The Guardian. 4 June 2023.
  10. ^ "Racing Genk-spits Tolu Arokodare wint de Ebbenhouten Schoen" [Racing Genk striker Tolu Arokodare wins the Ebony Shoe]. Het Laatste Niewus (in Dutch). 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  11. ^ "Genkse goalgetter Tolu wint na sterk seizoen de Ebbenhouten Schoen: "Trots dat ik in de geschiedenisboeken beland"" [Genk goalgetter Tolu wins the Ebony Shoe after a strong season: "Proud to be in the history books"]. Sporza (in Dutch). 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  12. ^ "Will Downing on X". X. 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
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