Idris Kanu
Sierra Leonean footballer

Idris Kanu
Personal information
Full nameIdris Kanu[1]
Date of birth (1999-12-05) 5 December 1999 (age 24)[2]
Place of birthLondon, England[3]
Height1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)[4]
Position(s)Wing-back, winger
Team information
Current team
Barnet
Number11
Youth career
2010–2016West Ham United
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2016–2017Aldershot Town29(3)
2017–2022Peterborough United46(2)
2018–2019→ Port Vale (loan)3(1)
2019→ Boreham Wood (loan)18(4)
2022→ Northampton Town (loan)6(0)
2022–Barnet70(15)
International career
2021–Sierra Leone2(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 12:51, 23 April 2024 (UTC)

Idris Kanu (born 5 December 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a wing-back or winger for National League club Barnet. Born in England, he represents the Sierra Leone national team.

He began playing football with West Ham United at 11 and spent six years with the club. He signed for Aldershot Town in October 2016 and, at the age of 16, became the club's youngest-ever player and goalscorer in league competitions. He joined Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee in August 2017, from where he was loaned out to Port Vale for the first half of the 2018–19 season and then Boreham Wood in the latter half of the season. He helped Peterborough to win promotion out of League One at the end of the 2020–21 season. He was loaned to Northampton Town in January 2022 and sold to Barnet in September 2022.

Club career

Early career

Kanu was recruited into the West Ham United academy at the age of 11 after impressing in a trial game for Barking and Dagenham district.[5] He appeared for the "Hammers" Under-21 team at the age of 15.[6] In September 2016, following his release from West Ham, he underwent a trial with Manchester United's Under-18 side and scored twice in a match against Middlesbrough.[7] A permanent move failed to materialize, however, and Kanu later revealed he rejected an offer from the Premier League club in order to play senior football regularly.[8]

Aldershot Town

On 7 October 2016, National League side Aldershot Town completed the signing of Kanu on an amateur contract after he had impressed during training sessions with the club.[5] Upon signing, he was reunited with James Rowe, the club's assistant manager who he had previously worked with at West Ham.[9] He made his debut the following day, coming on as a late substitute for Bernard Mensah in a 2–0 win over Solihull Moors at the Recreation Ground.[9] In doing so, at the age of 16 years and 308 days, Kanu became the youngest player ever to feature for the "Shots" in a league match.[10] He scored his first professional goal in the following match, netting in a 2–1 FA Cup defeat at home to Eastbourne Borough.[11] Kanu's first league goal came on 12 November when he scored the opening goal in a 3–3 draw at Lincoln City.[11] Upon scoring, Kanu broke another record by becoming the club's youngest ever goalscorer in league competition, aged 16 years and 343 days.[10] On 5 December, he signed his first professional contract with the club on his 17th birthday, signing a two-and-a-half-year deal.[10][12] He received his first ever red card the following year, when he was dismissed for two bookable offences in a 1–0 win over Dover Athletic on 17 April.[13] Kanu ultimately scored five goals in 33 appearances across all competitions as Gary Waddock's side fell just short of promotion at the end of the 2016–17 season, losing out to Tranmere Rovers in the play-off semi-finals.[14]

Peterborough United

On 1 August 2017, Kanu signed a three-year deal with League One side Peterborough United for an undisclosed fee.[15] He made his English Football League debut for the club on 5 August, coming on as a second-half substitute for Junior Morias in a 2–1 win over Plymouth Argyle at London Road.[16] Speaking at the end of the month, Peterborough manager Grant McCann said that he was very pleased with Kanu's progress.[17] However, McCann was sacked and replaced by Steve Evans in February 2018 and Kanu had to wait until the last day of the 2017–18 season to make his first start, featuring in a 2–0 defeat at Portsmouth.[18] Kanu made a total of 28 appearances during the campaign and Evans later announced that he would be made available to leave the club on loan the following season.[19][20] Kanu scored his first goal for Peterborough in a 2–0 win over Northampton Town in an EFL Trophy tie on 3 September 2019.[21]

On 28 June 2018, Kanu joined League Two side Port Vale on a season-long loan deal.[19] On 29 September, he came off the bench to make his first league appearance at Vale Park and scored his first-ever goal in the Football League with a header seven minutes into injury-time to secure a 1–1 draw with Exeter City.[22] However, he started just three games. He made a further four substitute appearances thereafter and was recalled to Peterborough on 3 January 2019.[23]

On 4 January 2019, Kanu joined National League side Boreham Wood on a "long-term" loan deal; "Wood" manager Luke Garrard said that he was "very excited" to bring Kanu to Meadow Park.[24] He made his debut the following day, opening the scoring in a 4–4 draw at Dagenham & Redbridge.[25] He ended the 2018–19 season with four goals in 19 appearances for Boreham Wood.

He signed a new deal with Peterborough on 7 February 2020, which would keep him at the club until summer 2023; manager Darren Ferguson said, "I think he's got potential, so it's important we tied him down."[26] He scored one goal in ten games during the 2019–20 season, which was ended early due to the COVID-19 pandemic in England, and was one of ten players to be taken off furlough in order to take part in one-on-one training with Ferguson.[27] He scored his first goal for Peterborough on 27 March 2021, in a 7–0 thrashing of Accrington Stanley.[28] He scored two goals in 25 games in the 2020–21 season as Peterborough secured promotion into the Championship with automatic promotion out of League One.[29]

On 26 January 2022, Kanu joined League Two side Northampton Town on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season, having just returned from the Africa Cup of Nations.[30] He started just one league game under Jon Brady, but did make five substitute appearances and started in the play-off semi-final first leg 2–1 defeat at Mansfield Town.[31] He was an unused substitute in the return fixture at Sixfields Stadium, as the "Cobblers" lost the tie 3–1 on aggregate.[32] Upon returning to Peterborough, he was transfer-listed by new manager Grant McCann.[33]

Barnet

On 1 September 2022, Kanu signed a two-year contract with National League club Barnet for an undisclosed fee.[34] He earned praise from Peterborough chairman Darragh MacAnthony for taking a paycut from his £1,700 per week salary in order to play regular football with Barnet.[35] Kanu put Barnet into the second round of the FA Cup with a headed goal in the first round replay at Chelmsford City on 14 November.[36] He scored eight goals in 37 league games in the 2022–23 season, helping the club to qualify for the play-offs with a fifth-place finish.[4] They were beaten by Boreham Wood at The Hive Stadium at the quarter-final stage, in a game where Kanu had a header cleared off the goalmouth.[37]

International career

Kanu was eligible to represent England as his country of birth, as well as Sierra Leone through his parental lineage.[38] He received his first call up to the Sierra Leone national team for an Africa Cup of Nations qualifying game against Benin in June 2021.[39] On 13 November 2021, Kanu made his debut for Sierra Leone, playing in a 2–0 loss against the Comoros.[40] In December 2021, Kanu was named in the Sierra Leone squad for the delayed 2021 Africa Cup of Nations.[41] Sierra Leone did not advance past the group stages after finishing third in Group E and Kanu was not named in any matchday squads.

Personal life

Kanu is a practising Muslim and fasts during Ramadan.[42]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 20 April 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueFA CupEFL CupOtherTotal
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Aldershot Town2016–17[4]National League29311003[a]0334
Peterborough United2017–18[43]League One18030106[b]0280
2018–19[44]League One0000000000
2019–20[45]League One6000004[b]1101
2020–21[46]League One17210106[b]0252
2021–22[47]Championship5000100060
2022–23[48]League One0000000000
Total4624030161693
Port Vale (loan)2018–19[44]League Two3100103[b]071
Boreham Wood (loan)2018–19[4]National League18400001[c]0194
Northampton Town (loan)2021–22[47]League Two6000001[d]070
Barnet2022–23[4]National League37842005[e]04610
2023–24[4]National League33740003[f]0407
2024–25[4]National League0000000000
Total70158200808617
Career total172251334032122129
  1. ^ 2 appearances in play-offs and 1 appearance in FA Trophy.
  2. ^ a b c d Appearance/s in EFL Trophy.
  3. ^ Appearance/s in FA Trophy
  4. ^ Appearance/s in play-offs.
  5. ^ 4 appearances in FA Trophy and 1 appearance in the play-offs.
  6. ^ 1 appearance in FA Trophy, and 1 appearance in the play-offs.

International

As of match played 24 September 2022[49]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Sierra Leone202110
202210
Total20

Honours

Peterborough United

References

  1. ^ "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2019" (PDF). English Football League. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 June 2019. Retrieved 23 June 2019.
  2. ^ "FootballSquads - Port Vale - 2018/2019". www.footballsquads.co.uk. Archived from the original on 24 June 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  3. ^ "Reading FC: Aldershot Town hand teenage wonderkid Idris Kanu first pro deal to ward off Royals interest". Reading Chronicle. 9 December 2016. Archived from the original on 13 April 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Idris Kanu at Soccerway. Retrieved 13 December 2016.
  5. ^ a b "Idris Kanu: Aldershot Town sign former West Ham United youngster". BBC Sport. 7 October 2016. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  6. ^ O'Donovan, Ryan (11 October 2016). "Idris Kanu: All you need to know about Shots new signing". Get Hampshire. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  7. ^ Tuck, James (5 September 2016). "Video: U18s - Manchester United 5 Middlesbrough 1". Manchester United F.C. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  8. ^ O'Donovan, Ryan (29 November 2016). "Why did Idris Kanu join Aldershot instead of Manchester United?". Get Surrey. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 2 August 2017.
  9. ^ a b O'Donovan, Ryan (11 October 2016). "Idris Kanu: From Manchester United to Aldershot Town – all you need to know about the 16-year-old". Get Hampshire. Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  10. ^ a b c "Idris Signs First Professional Contract". Aldershot Football Club. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 7 December 2016. Retrieved 8 November 2016.
  11. ^ a b O'Donovan, Ryan (29 November 2016). "Aldershot Town wonderkid Idris Kanu explains why he chose team over Manchester United". Get Surrey. Archived from the original on 21 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  12. ^ "Idris Kanu: Aldershot Town forward signs contract until 2019". BBC Sport. 6 December 2016. Archived from the original on 8 December 2016. Retrieved 8 December 2016.
  13. ^ "Aldershot Town 1-0 Dover Athletic". BBC. 17 April 2017. Archived from the original on 18 April 2017. Retrieved 18 April 2017.
  14. ^ "Tranmere into National League promotion final". BBC. 6 May 2017. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2017.
  15. ^ "Posh Secure Signing Of Highly-Rated Kanu". Peterborough F.C. 1 August 2017. Archived from the original on 2 August 2017. Retrieved 1 August 2017.
  16. ^ "Peterborough United vs. Plymouth Argyle". Soccerway. 5 August 2017. Archived from the original on 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
  17. ^ Swann, Alan (22 August 2017). "REPORT: Manager McCann delighted with Kanu progress". Peterborough Today. Archived from the original on 26 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  18. ^ "Portsmouth 2-0 Peterborough United". BBC Sport. 5 May 2018. Archived from the original on 27 May 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  19. ^ a b "Idris Kanu & Theo Vassell: Port Vale sign Peterborough striker and Gateshead defender". BBC Sport. 28 June 2018. Archived from the original on 18 July 2018. Retrieved 28 June 2018.
  20. ^ Smeaton, Graham (7 May 2018). "Retained list - Peterborough boss Evans offers unlucky 13 transfers from club - The72". the72.co.uk. Archived from the original on 13 June 2018. Retrieved 25 June 2018.
  21. ^ "Kanu nets first Posh goal in derby win". Peterborough United. 3 September 2019. Archived from the original on 4 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
  22. ^ Baggaley, Michael (30 September 2018). "Neil Aspin praises Port Vale's Idris Kanu after landmark goal". Stoke Sentinel. Archived from the original on 1 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  23. ^ Baggaley, Michael (3 January 2019). "Idris Kanu returns to Peterborough from Port Vale". Stoke Sentinel. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2019.
  24. ^ "Boreham Wood bring in Idris Kanu". The Non League Football Paper - Daily football news. 4 January 2019. Archived from the original on 4 January 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2019.
  25. ^ "Dagenham & Redbridge 4-4 Boreham Wood". BBC Sport. 5 January 2019. Archived from the original on 6 January 2019. Retrieved 5 January 2019.
  26. ^ "Idris Kanu: Peterborough United midfielder signs deal until 2023". BBC Sport. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 22 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2020.
  27. ^ Swann, Alan (29 June 2020). "Peterborough United's 'Fergie fledglings' to return to training as club start preparations for 2020-21 season". www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk. Archived from the original on 2 July 2020. Retrieved 2 July 2020.
  28. ^ "Peterborough United 7-0 Accrington Stanley". BBC Sport. 27 March 2021. Archived from the original on 27 March 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2021.
  29. ^ a b Verrall, John (4 May 2021). "Peterborough United promoted: The vengeance season completed". HITC. Archived from the original on 13 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  30. ^ "Idris Kanu Joins Northampton Town". www.ntfc.co.uk. 26 January 2022. Archived from the original on 26 January 2022. Retrieved 26 January 2022.
  31. ^ Aloia, Andrew (14 May 2022). "Mansfield hang on to beat Northampton in first leg". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  32. ^ Scott, Ged (18 May 2022). "Mansfield beat Northampton to reach play-off final". BBC Sport. Archived from the original on 20 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  33. ^ Swann, Alan (9 May 2022). "Peterborough United make 5 players available for transfer and release three others". Peterborough Telegraph. Archived from the original on 26 May 2022. Retrieved 26 May 2022.
  34. ^ "Kanu signs for Barnet". www.barnetfc.com. 1 September 2022. Archived from the original on 1 September 2022. Retrieved 1 September 2022.
  35. ^ Swann, Alan (9 September 2022). "Ex-Peterborough United player praised for putting his career before money". Peterborough Telegraph. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  36. ^ "Kanu heads 10-man Barnet into FA Cup second round". BBC Sport. 14 November 2022. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
  37. ^ "Boreham Wood beat Bees to make play-off semi-final". BBC Sport. 2 May 2023. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 3 May 2023.
  38. ^ Ifeanyi, Emmanuel (21 December 2016). "Man City Target Idris Kanu Clarifies : I Am Not Eligible To Represent Nigeria". All Nigeria Soccer. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 15 April 2017.
  39. ^ Jones, Ben (10 June 2021). "Peterborough United youngster set to receive first international call-up for Sierra Leone". Peterborough Today. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 10 June 2021.
  40. ^ "Idris Kanu". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 7 December 2021.
  41. ^ "Afcon 2021: Ex-England defender Steven Caulker named in Sierra Leone squad". BBC Sport. 31 December 2021. Archived from the original on 4 January 2022. Retrieved 4 January 2022.
  42. ^ "Posh Trio Discuss Fasting During Ramadan". www.theposh.com. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 19 September 2021. Retrieved 23 September 2021.
  43. ^ "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
  44. ^ a b "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  45. ^ "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  46. ^ "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  47. ^ a b "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  48. ^ "Games played by Idris Kanu in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
  49. ^ "Idris Kanu". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
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