Nathan Delfouneso

Nathan Abayomi Delfouneso (born 2 February 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for League One club Bolton Wanderers.

Having graduated from Aston Villa's academy Delfouneso broke into their first team in 2008, mainly being an impact substitute over the next few years, he scored 19 goals in 52 appearances, including two goals in the club's 2008-09 UEFA Cup campaign. Delfouneso had a series of loan moves to Football League Championship sides while at Aston Villa, followed by permanent spells at Blackpool, Blackburn Rovers and Swindon Town. He signed for Blackpool for a fourth time in 2017.

Delfouneso was a regular England youth international, playing a total of 54 matches and scoring 19 goals at U16, U17, U19 and U21 levels.

Club Career

Aston Villa

Born in Tyseley, Birmingham, Delfouneso, a product of the Aston Villa Academy, became a regular for both the club's reserve and academy teams in the 2006–07 season. He made his debut for the reserve team in March 2007, just a month after turning 16. His late goal gave Villa a 2–1 win against Portsmouth. In October, he scored his first goal in a 1–1 draw with Reading. In February 2008, Delfouneso signed his first professional contract with Aston Villa, a few days after he was given the number 14 shirt for the first team - it was later reported in French magazine Onze Mondial that the number was chosen due to Delfouneso's admiration of striker Thierry Henry. He travelled with the squad for the game at Fulham, but missed out on the final 16. By the end of the 2007–08 season, Delfouneso had made 41 appearances for the Academy team, scoring 22 goals in the process.

Delfouneso made his competitive first-team debut as a substitute in the away leg of the UEFA Cup second round match against Icelandic team FH Hafnarfjorður. This made Delfouneso the youngest player to represent Villa in European competition, at the age of 17 years and 195 days. He also came on in the second leg at Villa Park. H

This page also has a version in other languages :  Натан Делфунесо (russian)