Spanish footballer
In this
Spanish name , the first or paternal
surname is
Onwu and the second or maternal family name is
Villafranca .
Manuel Onwu Villafranca (born 11 January 1988) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a forward .
Club career
Born in Tudela, Navarre to a Nigerian father and a Spanish mother , and raised in neighbouring Valtierra ,[ 1] Onwu started playing with Club Atlético Valtierrano then moved to local CD Tudelano , making his senior debut with the latter in 2006, in Tercera División . The following year he signed with neighbouring CA Osasuna , being assigned to its B team and going on to serve two loans in the lower leagues subsequently.[ 2]
Onwu scored 11 goals in 30 matches with the reserves in the Segunda División B in the 2011–12 season . On 11 March 2012 he made his first-team – and La Liga – debut, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 2–1 home win against Athletic Bilbao .[ 3] He made his first start two rounds later, in a 2–0 away victory over Levante UD (71 minutes played).[ 4]
In the summer of 2015, after a fleeting spell in the Georgian Erovnuli Liga with FC Dinamo Tbilisi , Onwu returned to his country and its third tier, going on to represent Lleida Esportiu , Lorca FC and UCAM Murcia CF .[ 5] He achieved promotion with the second club at the end of the 2016–17 campaign by netting eight times, but also dealt with injury and bureaucratic problems.[ 6]
On 17 July 2019, free agent Onwu signed with Indian Super League defending champions Bengaluru FC .[ 7] The following 28 January, he was loaned to Odisha FC in the same competition.[ 8] [ 9] [ 10] He scored his first hat-trick as a professional on 23 February, in the 4–4 home draw against Kerala Blasters FC .[ 11]
Onwu joined Odisha on a permanent one-year contract in September 2020.[ 12]
References
^ Onwu, una promesa de futuro para el presente (Onwu, future promise for today) Archived 8 February 2013 at archive.today ; Noticias de Navarra, 14 March 2012 (in Spanish)
^ Vallejo, María (7 November 2019). "Manu Onwu, de Valtierra a Bangalore" [Manu Onwu, from Valtierra to Bangalore] (in Spanish). Diario de Navarra . Retrieved 8 January 2020 .
^ Bilbao brought back to earth ; ESPN Soccernet , 11 March 2012
^ Euro dream alive for Osasuna ; ESPN Soccernet, 25 March 2012
^ "Manu Onwu completa la delantera universitaria" [Manu Onwu completes the collegiate attack] (in Spanish). La Verdad . 30 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018 .
^ Martínez Sánchez, José (26 December 2017). "Anuario VAVEL Lorca FC 2017: la delantera sin gol" [Lorca FC 2017 VAVEL yearbook: the goalless forward line] (in Spanish). Vavel . Retrieved 20 September 2018 .
^ "Bengaluru FC signs Spanish forward Manuel Onwu" . The Hindu . 17 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019 .
^ "ISL: Odisha dealt Santana injury blow, loans Onwu as replacement" . The Hindu. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020 .
^ Mukherjee, Soham (8 February 2020). "Odisha FC's Josep Gombau – Manuel Onwu showing that he is a very good player" . Goal . Retrieved 12 September 2020 .
^ "Manuel Onwu finds redemption after poor start to ISL career" . Yahoo! Finance . 15 February 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020 .
^ Kamath, Sooraj (23 February 2020). "A point each for Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters FC in eight-goal thriller" . Goal. Retrieved 12 September 2020 .
^ Ingale, Shreyash (12 September 2020). "ISL – Odisha FC retains Manuel Onwu after his heroics last season" . Indian Football Team for World Cup. Retrieved 12 September 2020 .
External links