Joshua Erowoli Orisunmihare Oluwaseun Maja (born 27 December 1998) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Ligue 1 club Bordeaux and the Nigeria national team.
Maja played youth football with Crystal Palace, Fulham and Manchester City and began his professional career with Sunderland, making 49 appearances and scoring 17 goals. In January 2019, he joined Bordeaux. Born in England, Maja made his international debut for Nigeria in September 2019.
Club Career
Sunderland
Maja was not offered a scholarship by Manchester City and in March 2015, Sunderland reached an agreement with Fulham for him to sign a two-year scholarship. In May 2016, he signed his first professional contract with the club, signing a three-year deal.
On 21 September 2016, Maja made his professional debut in a 2–1 victory at Queens Park Rangers in the third round of the EFL Cup, replacing Joel Asoro as a substitute for the final 21 minutes. He did not play again that season but did appear on the bench during their Premier League campaign, which ended in relegation.
Maja made his league debut on 16 December 2017, when he came on for James Vaughan at the Stadium of Light, going on to score his side's only goal of the match five minutes subsequently; the game resulted in Sunderland’s first home win of 2017 and against Fulham, his former team during his youth. Manager Chris Coleman spoke positively of Maja afterwards, stating, "I've been very impressed with Josh. He's different, he gives us a big injection of personality". Maja went on to make 17 appearances in the Championship that season, failing to score anymore following his goal against Fulham, with the club suffering a second consecutive relegation, now to League One.
Relegation proved well personally for Maja, as he broke into the side's starting line-up; he went on to score in all of Sunderland's first four games in August, earning him a nomination for Player of the Month. With his contract due to expire a
This page also has a version in other languages : Джош Манджа (russian)
