Alexander Djiku
Djiku in 2017
Personal information
Date of birth (1994-08-09) 9 August 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Montpellier, France
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Centre-back
Team information
Current team
 Fenerbahçe
Number 6
Youth career
Bastia
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2016 Bastia B 46 (0)
2014–2017 Bastia 45 (1)
2017–2019 Caen 59 (1)
2019–2023 Strasbourg 117 (3)
2023– Fenerbahçe 14 (1)
International career‡
2020– Ghana 27 (2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 3 February 2024
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 January 2024

Alexander Kwabena Baidoo Djiku (born 9 August 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Süper Lig club Fenerbahçe.[1] Born in France, he plays for the Ghana national team.[2]

Club career

Bastia

Djiku spent his youth career at Bastia. He played for the reserve team until 2014. He made his debut in a Coupe de la Ligue match against Évian on 18 December 2013.[3][4] On 3 December 2014, he made his Ligue 1 debut with the team against Évian.

Caen

On 11 July 2017, Djiku joined Ligue 1 side Caen on a four-year contract, Caen paid 2M€ for buy-out.[5][6] On 5 August 2017, he made his debut with the team against Montpellier in Ligue 1.

Strasbourg

In July 2019, he was acquired by fellow Ligue 1 club Strasbourg for 4,5M€, signing a four-year contract.[7] He made his continental debut in a 3-1 UEFA Europa League win over Maccabi Haifa on 25 July 2017.

Fenerbahçe

On 10 July 2023, Djiku signed a three-year contract with Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe for a free transfer.[8] In his first year, he became one of the key players who took more responsibility on the field.[9]

He scored his first goal for Fenerbahçe on 28 September 2023 against Başakşehir, netting the first goal in a 4-0 victory.[10]

International career

Djiku is of Ghanaian Ewe and French descent.[11][12] He debuted with the senior Ghana national team in a 3–0 friendly loss to Mali on 9 October 2020. He played his second match for Ghana against Qatar on 12 October 2020 in which he impressed.[13] Djiku's third match came when he was given the opportunity by the Black Stars new head coach to start against Zimbabwe in a World Cup qualifier where Ghana won 3–1.[14][15]

He was part of Ghana's team at the 2021 African Cup of Nations in Cameroon and scored his first goal against Comoros on 18 January 2022.[16]

Personal life

Djiku is married to Heley Djiku. The couple have two children, Wesley and Elyana.[17]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 3 February 2024[18]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup[a] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Bastia B 2012–13 CFA 2 14 0 — — — 14 0
2013–14 14 0 — — — 14 0
2014–15 16 0 — — — 16 0
2015–16 1 0 — — — 1 0
2016–17 1 0 — — — 1 0
Total 46 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 46 0
Bastia 2013–14 Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 — 1[b] 0 1 0
2014–15 2 0 1 0 — 2[b] 0 5 0
2015–16 20 0 1 0 — 0 0 21 0
2016–17 23 1 1 0 — 0 0 24 1
Total 45 1 3 0 0 0 3 0 51 1
Caen 2017–18 Ligue 1 28 0 4 0 — 1[b] 0 33 0
2018–19 31 1 3 0 — 1[b] 0 35 1
Total 59 1 7 0 0 0 2 0 68 1
Strasbourg 2019–20 Ligue 1 25 1 1 1 5[c] 0 2[b] 0 33 2
2020–21 30 0 0 0 — — 30 0
2021–22 31 1 2 0 — — 33 1
2022–23 22 1 0 0 — — 22 1
Total 108 3 3 1 5 0 2 0 118 4
Fenerbahçe 2023-24 Süper Lig 14 1 0 0 8[d] 0 0[e] 0 22 1
Career total 272 6 13 1 13 0 7 0 305 7
  1. ^ Includes Coupe de France and Turkish Cup
  2. ^ a b c d e Appearances in Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. ^ Appearances in Turkish Super Cup

International

As of match played 22 January 2024[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Ghana 2020 4 0
2021 7 0
2022 9 1
2023 3 0
2024 4 1
Total 27 2

International goal

Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first.[20]
No Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 18 January 2022 Roumdé Adjia Stadium, Garoua, Cameroon  Comoros 2–2 2–3 2021 Africa Cup of Nations
1. 14 January 2024 Felix Houphouet Boigny Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast  Cape Verde 1–1 1–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations

Honours

Bastia

Individual

References

  1. ^ Alexander Djiku at WorldFootball.net
  2. ^ "Alexander Djiku becomes Ghanaian with joint-most Ligue 1 appearances - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  3. ^ "Alexander Djiku". Ligue1.com. Archived from the original on 11 August 2018. Retrieved 11 July 2014.
  4. ^ (in French) LFP
  5. ^ Caen, Stade Malherbe (11 July 2017). "Coucou @alex_djiku! Le défenseur en provenance du @SCBastia s'engage pour 4 ans avec le @SMCaen #SMCaen #TeamSMC #Ligue1pic.twitter.com/avxVN8UAL3". @SMCaen. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  6. ^ "Mercato. SM Caen : le défenseur Alexander Djiku signe quatre ans". Ouest-France (in French). 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
  7. ^ "ALEXANDER DJIKU REJOINT LE RACING" (in French). 5 July 2019. Archived from the original on 23 July 2019. Retrieved 23 July 2019.
  8. ^ "Ailemize hoş geldin Alexander Djiku" (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe S.K. 10 July 2023. Retrieved 10 July 2023.
  9. ^ "Djiku, Skrtel'den bu yana bir ilki başardı!" (in Turkish). Beinsports. 25 September 2023.
  10. ^ "Fenerbahçe 4-0 Rams Başakşehir" (in Turkish). Fenerbahçe S.K. 28 September 2023.
  11. ^ http://www.africa-football.com/2017/07/11/mercato-sm-caen-alexander-djiku-en-approche-senegal/[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ "Alexander Djiku :: Alexander Djiku :: Strasbourg". www.playmakerstats.com. Retrieved 8 August 2019.
  13. ^ "Mali vs. Ghana". Soccerway.
  14. ^ "2022 World Cup qualifiers: Ghana player ratings against Zimbabwe". Goal.com. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  15. ^ "Ghana 3–1 Zimbabwe: Player ratings from 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier in Cape Coast". Ghana Sports Online. 9 October 2021. Retrieved 12 October 2021.
  16. ^ Ayamga, Emmanuel (18 January 2022). "Fatawu Issahaku starts as Milo names Ghana's starting line-up against Comoros". Pulse Ghana. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. ^ "Meet the wife and kids of Black Stars defender Alexander Djiku". GhanaWeb. 4 April 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  18. ^ Alexander Djiku at Soccerway
  19. ^ "Alexander Djiku". EU-Football.info. Archived from the original on 29 November 2019. Retrieved 20 June 2023.
  20. ^ Verri, Matt (19 January 2022). "Ghana 2-3 Comoros: Ahmed Mogni sends Black Stars crashing out of AFCON after huge shock". standard.co.uk. Retrieved 27 October 2023.
  21. ^ "PSG beat Bastia 4-0 to lift league cup". Taipei Times. 13 April 2015. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
  22. ^ "2022 Ghana Football Awards: Full list of winners - MyJoyOnline.com". www.myjoyonline.com. 3 July 2022. Retrieved 3 July 2022.
  23. ^ "Alexander Djiku wins Foreign-based Footballer of the Year at 2022 Ghana Football Awards - Kickgh.com". www.kickgh.com. Retrieved 3 July 2022.

External links

Fenerbahçe S.K. – current squad
Ghana squads
Categories