Funso Ojo

Funso-King Ayorinde Ojo (born 28 August 1991) is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Port Vale, where he is also vice-captain.

Funso-King Ayorinde Ojo was born in Antwerp on 28 August 1991 to parents of Nigerian origin.

He joined the PSV Eindhoven Academy from Germinal Beerschot in the 2004–05 season.

He made his debut for the first-team at the age of 15, when head coach Ronald Koeman played him in a friendly against amateur side HVCH on 19 May 2007.

He was called up by Huub Stevens to the substitute bench for a competitive fixture in the 2008–09 season.

A Belgium under-21 international, Ojo began his career with Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, making his debut in the Eredivisie in May 2009.

Ojo played his first Eredivisie match for PSV on 5 May 2009 against Willem II.

He played on loan at VVV-Venlo during the 2010–11 campaign but was allowed to leave PSV and returned to Belgium to play for Beerschot in June 2012.

Ojo signed a contract extension four months later, which would keep him at the Philips Stadion until summer 2010, after he impressed manager Fred Rutten.

Having featured just twice for PSV in the first half of the 2010–11 season, Ojo joined VVV-Venlo on loan on 8 January 2011.

However, he struggled to break into the starting eleven under head coach Wil Boessen, much to Ojo and Rutten's frustration.

PSV signed Georginio Wijnaldum in June 2011, though Ojo would still manage to make a further ten appearances in the 2011–12 campaign.

On 16 April 2012, Ojo rejoined Belgian Pro League club Beerschot AC (formerly called Germinal Beerschot) on a free transfer, signing a four-year contract.

Manager Adrie Koster said that he had gained technical skill in the Netherlands but would need to develop physical attributes to succeed in the Belgian leagues.

On 1 September, he scored his first career goal in a 2–0 win at KV Mechelen.

However, he rarely featured in the second half of the 2012–13 season due to injury and a falling out with new manager Jacky Mathijssen.

He joined hometown club Royal Antwerp in August 2013, and signed with Dutch Eerste Divisie side FC Dordrecht in February 2014.

He helped Dordrecht to win promotion out of the play-offs at the end of the 2013–14 season, and though the club were relegated the following season, Ojo remained in the Eredivisie after signing with Willem II in June 2015.

He became a free agent after the club entered bankruptcy in May 2013; he came close to joining Italian club Chievo, though the deal did not end up being completed.

Ojo claimed that Mathijssen "did everything to break me down and blacken me and it worked".

On 29 August 2013, Ojo signed a two-year contract with Belgian Second Division club Royal Antwerp after impressing manager Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink during a trial spell.

He played eight games at the start of the 2013–14 season before being dropped to the reserves, and, in December Hasselbaink confirmed that Ojo was no longer welcome at the Bosuilstadion after being unwilling to play for the youth team.

Ojo returned to the Netherlands and joined Eerste Divisie side FC Dordrecht.

Dordrecht qualified for the promotion play-offs at the end of the 2013–14 season and Ojo scored one of the goals in a 5–3 aggregate victory over Sparta Rotterdam to secure promotion into the top-flight.

He signed a new one-year contract in June 2014.

Ojo underwent ankle surgery in February 2015 to remove a piece of floating bone and was ruled out of action for the rest of the 2014–15 season.

He had struggled with his ankle injury since the start of the campaign, which would prove to be a poor one for the club as Ernie Brandts's side would go on to be relegated out of the Eredivisie after finishing in last place.

Ojo remained in the Eredivisie after signing with Willem II.

He became a key first-team player for Jurgen Streppel in the 2015–16 season, playing a total of 38 games.

Willem II finished in the relegation play-off places, but would beat both Almere City and NAC Breda to successfully retain their top-flight status.

He featured 29 times in the 2016–17 season, though struggled for form during the latter campaign.

He turned down the offer of a new contract and instead decided to move on.

He spent two seasons with the club, making 60 top-flight appearances, before he moved to England to play for Scunthorpe United in July 2017.

On 18 July 2017, Ojo signed a three-year contract with English League One club Scunthorpe United.

He had been scouted by Lee Turnbull.

Ojo quickly became a key player for Graham Alexander's "Iron", forming an excellent midfield partnership with Neal Bishop, and his absence due to injury was blamed for three consecutive defeats in December.

He played 47 games across the course of the 2017–18 campaign, scoring two goals, helping United to qualify for the play-offs.

He was sold to Scottish Premiership club Aberdeen for a fee of around £125,000 in July 2019.

He spent three seasons with Aberdeen, though spent the second half of the 2020–21 season on loan at Wigan Athletic.

He returned to England on a permanent basis after joining Port Vale on a free transfer in June 2022.