*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 17:57, 7 December 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22:08, 20 June 2019 (UTC)
Leya Iseka is a youth exponent from Anderlecht. In the 2013–14 UEFA Youth League, aged 15 in an under-19 tournament, he scored four goals in six games of a group-stage elimination, including a hat-trick on 3 October in a 4–2 home win over Olympiacos.[1] The following season, he scored nine times in seven UEFA Youth League games, second only to Chelsea's Dominic Solanke.[1] This included another hat-trick on 18 March 2015 in a 5–0 home win over Porto in the quarter-finals.[2] That same month, he was given his first professional contract, for five years.[2]
On 23 July 2016, Leya Iseka joined Marseille in Ligue 1 on a season-long loan, a month after his brother Michy Batshuayi had left the club.[5] However, he returned to Belgium at the start of January 2017 to find a new club he could be loaned out to, after Marseille announced they would not keep him; he was expected to join Mouscron but nothing came of it.[6] He did not score in nine total matches for OM, but did feature and score more frequently for the reserves in CFA (fourth tier).
Leya Iseka was loaned to fellow top-flight team Zulte-Waregem for the season on 21 June 2017.[7] On 22 July, he made his debut in the 2017 Belgian Super Cup, a 2–1 loss to his parent club, replacing Nill De Pauw for the final 11 minutes. He scored his first goal in a professional league on 5 August, a penalty in a 2–0 home win over Sint-Truidense.[8] In the club's UEFA Europa League campaign, he scored twice in five matches, including a late winner in a 3–2 victory over Lazio at the Regenboogstadion.[9]
Toulouse
Leya Iseka (front centre) warming-up for Toulouse in 2018
On 29 June 2018, Leya Iseka returned to Ligue 1, joining Toulouse FC for four seasons.[10] He made his debut on 10 August in the season opener away to his former club Marseille, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 loss at the Stade Vélodrome.[11] Nine days later he scored his first goal for the club to open a 2–1 win over Bordeaux at the Stadium de Toulouse.[12] On 30 September, he was sent off in the first half of a 1–1 draw at Rennes for dissent, and suspended for three matches.[13]
On 29 October 2020, Leya Iseka was loaned to fellow top-flight team Metz for the season.[14]
Barnsley
Leya Iseka signed for EFL Championship club Barnsley on 2 August 2021 on a four-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.[15] He scored three goals in 37 games in his first season, which ended in relegation. Having played only once at the start of the new campaign under manager Michael Duff, who criticised his attitude to training, Leya Iseka joined Adanaspor in the TFF First League on 8 September 2022.[16]
After being loaned to Tuzlaspor in the same league, Leya Iseka signed for Hapoel Hadera F.C. of the Israeli Premier League on 21 September 2023, on a deal with a recall clause for January.[17] Two days later he made his debut and scored a penalty after five minutes, albeit in a 2–1 home loss to Hapoel Haifa.[18] Having already experienced a major earthquake in Turkey at the start of the year, he left Israel after his second match due to the start of the Israel–Hamas war.[19]
OFI Crete
On 29 January 2024, Barnsley used their recall clause for Leya Iseka's loan in Israel to facilitate a permanent transfer to Super League Greece club OFI Crete.[20] He scored on his debut two days later, as a substitute in a 3–1 loss to Panetolikos in the quarter-finals of the Greek Football Cup, and added his first league goals on 19 February as a brace in a 4–0 home win over Panserraikos.[21]
During his stay with OFI Crete, Iseka played in 16 matches, scoring 5 goals. In August 2024, he was sold to CSKA Sofia in Bulgaria for over 1 million euros, with the total transfer fee, including bonuses, expected to reach 1.2 million euros. OFI Crete also secured a 10% resale clause as part of the deal.[22]
Personal life
Leya Iseka is the younger brother of Belgian international striker Michy Batshuayi, but bears the surname of their mother rather than their father.[1]
Aged 12, he suffered from Osgood–Schlatter disease, which affects the knee in adolescence, and had to take a break from football for several months.[1]
^Vian, Meryll; Santiago, Antony (23 July 2016). "Aaron Leya Iseka est Olympien" [Aaron Leya Iseka is Olympian] (in French). Olympique de Marseille. Archived from the original on 1 November 2016. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
^Van Houtte, Tom (5 August 2017). "Zulte Waregem zet 10 Truienaren opzij" [Zulte Waregem put 10-man Sint-Truidense aside]. KW (in Dutch). Retrieved 11 August 2018.
_21.jpg)
