Manuel Onwu

Manuel Onwu
Personal information
Full name	Manuel Onwu Villafranca
Date of birth	11 January 1988 (age 36)
Place of birth	Tudela, Spain
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)
Position(s)	Forward
Youth career
	Valtierrano
2002–2006	Tudelano
Senior career*
Years	Team
2006–2007	Tudelano
2007–2012	Osasuna B
2007–2008	→ Iruña (loan)
2008	→ Alzira (loan)
2012–2015	Osasuna
2015	Dinamo Tbilisi
2015–2016	Lleida Esportiu
2016–2018	Lorca
2018–2019	UCAM Murcia
2019–2020	Bengaluru
2020	→ Odisha (loan)
2020–2021	Odisha
2021–2022	Badalona
	*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:00, 12 April 2022 (UTC)

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

Manuel Onwu at BDFutbol
Manuel Onwu at Futbolme (in Spanish)
La Segunda B profile (in Spanish)
Manuel Onwu at Soccerway

[1] 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)

[2] 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.

[3] Bilbao brought back to earth; ESPN Soccernet, 11 March 2012

[4] Euro dream alive for Osasuna; ESPN Soccernet, 25 March 2012

[5] "Manu Onwu completa la delantera universitaria" [Manu Onwu completes the collegiate attack] (in Spanish). La Verdad. 30 January 2018. Retrieved 16 February 2018.

[6] 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.

[7] "Bengaluru FC signs Spanish forward Manuel Onwu". The Hindu. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.

[8] "ISL: Odisha dealt Santana injury blow, loans Onwu as replacement". The Hindu. 28 January 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

[9] 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.

[10] "Manuel Onwu finds redemption after poor start to ISL career". Yahoo! Finance. 15 February 2020. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

[11] Kamath, Sooraj (23 February 2020). "A point each for Odisha FC and Kerala Blasters FC in eight-goal thriller". Goal. Retrieved 12 September 2020.

[12] 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.

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