Daniel Amartey

Daniel Amartey (born 21 December 1994) is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a defender or midfielder for Premier League club Leicester City and the Ghana national team.

Daniel Amartey
Amartey playing for Ghana in 2015
Personal information
Full name Daniel Amartey[1]
Date of birth (1994-12-21) 21 December 1994[2]
Place of birth Accra, Ghana[2]
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[3]
Position(s) Defender / Midfielder[2]
Club information
Current team
 Leicester City
Number 18
Youth career
2010–2012 International Allies
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2014 Djurgårdens IF 34 (0)
2014–2016 Copenhagen 44 (3)
2016– Leicester City 49 (1)
National team‡
2012–2014 Ghana U20 2 (0)
2015– Ghana 26 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:09, 1 January 2019 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 9:50, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Club career

Djurgårdens IF

Amartey started out playing for second-tier club International Allies in Ghana where he was spotted as a sixteen-year-old by Magnus Pehrsson who was on a scouting trip in Africa during his preparation to take over as manager of Djurgårdens IF. When Pehrsson became manager he secured the transfer rights for Amartey from the day he turned 18.[4] To help prepare Amartey for his future permanent move to Sweden in 2013, the club brought him over for shorter periods of time in both 2011 and 2012 where he got to play for the club's U21 team.[5][6]

Amartey made his Svenska Cupen debut on 3 March 2013 against Umeå FC.[7] He then made his league debut in the 2013 Allsvenskan opening game away against Helsingborgs IF on 31 March.[8] Amartey was praised by the media for his strong start to the 2013 season, and foreign clubs like FC Schalke 04 and 1. FC Kaiserslautern started to scout him.[9][10] On 26 May he scored his first ever goal for the club when he headed home the 1–1 equalizer in the 2013 Svenska Cupen Final which Djurgården eventually lost against IFK Göteborg on penalties.[11] After his first season in the Swedish league as an eighteen-year-old Amartey was ranked as the 10th-best player in the league by newspaper Expressen and 18th best by Aftonbladet.[12][13] In November 2013 Amartey confirmed that he was in talks with Liverpool F.C. over a possible move to the English club.[14]

Copenhagen

In July 2014, Amartey moved to F.C. Copenhagen for a fee of €2.5 million plus add-ons, and made his Superliga-debut on 20 July in a match against Silkeborg IF.[15]

Leicester City
Amartey playing for Leicester City in October 2016

On 22 January 2016, Amartey joined Premier League side Leicester City on a four-and-a-half-year contract for a fee around the region of up to £6 million.[16] In his first season in his new country, Amartey featured five times as his team Leicester City won the Premier League title. He made his debut for the club on 27 February 2016, in 1–0 win over Norwich City at the King Power Stadium.[17]

In the 2016–17 season, Amartey became a first team regular following the departure of N'Golo Kanté.[18] partnering teammate Danny Drinkwater in the central midfield role.[19] While his workrate roughly equalled Kanté's, he has been unable to match his tackles and interceptions.[20] Amartey scored his first goal for Leicester in an 88th-minute equaliser away at Stoke City on 17 December 2016, salvaging a 2–2 draw.[21] On 8 February 2017, just over 12 hours after returning to Leicester from international duty, Amartey played 120 minutes (including AET) in a 3–1 FA Cup fourth-round replay win over Derby County.[22]

In October 2018, Amartey broke his ankle in a game against West Ham, ruling him out for the rest of the 2018–19 season.[23][24]

Out of action for nearly a year, the closest Amartey came to a first team return was making the bench for an EFL Cup match against Luton Town in September 2019.[25] He made his first team return almost two years after his injury in an EFL Cup match against Arsenal on 23 September 2020, which Leicester lost 2-0.[26] Four days later he made his Premier League return when he started away at Manchester City in a 5-2 win.[27]

International career

In May 2012 Amartey made his debut for the Ghana national under-20 football team in a game against Nigeria.[28] He was also selected to play in the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup but Djurgården wanted to keep him in Sweden since the tournament clashed with the 2013 Allsvenskan season.[29] In January 2015, Amartey played in all the group matches for Ghana at the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations, where the Black Stars finished as runners-up.

He played six times at the 2017 Africa Cup of Nations, lasting 90 minutes in every match to help Ghana finish fourth in the tournament.[30] His performances saw him named in the CAF Team of the tournament.[30]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 4 October 2020[31]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup[lower-alpha 1] League Cup[lower-alpha 2] Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Djurgårdens IF 2013 Allsvenskan 23061———291
2014 Allsvenskan 11010———120
Total 34071———411
Copenhagen 2014–15 Superliga 29350—9[lower-alpha 3]3—436
2015–16 Superliga 15020—3[lower-alpha 4]0—200
Total 44370—123—636
Leicester City 2015–16 Premier League 50————50
2016–17 Premier League 24120108[lower-alpha 5]0—351
2017–18 Premier League 802040——140
2018–19 Premier League 900010——100
2019–20 Premier League 000000——00
2020–21 Premier League 20001000—30
Total 481407080—671
Leicester City U23 2017–18 ————1[lower-alpha 6]010
2019–20 ————1[lower-alpha 6]010
Total ————2020
Career Total 126418170203201738
  1. Includes Svenska Cupen, Danish Cup, FA Cup
  2. Includes EFL Cup
  3. Three appearances and one goal in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League
  4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. Appearance in EFL Trophy

International
As of match played 8 September 2018[32]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Ghana 201580
201650
2017120
201810
Total260

Honours

Copenhagen

Leicester City

Ghana

References
  1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 11 February 2018.
  2. "Daniel Armartey". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  3. "Daniel Armartey: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 23 October 2018.
  4. "MP om de nya ghananerna" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 26 August 2011. Archived from the original on 10 September 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  5. "Afrikanska löften på Kaknäs" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 27 August 2011. Archived from the original on 29 January 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  6. "Daniel Amartey ansluter i augusti" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 11 July 2012. Archived from the original on 27 January 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  7. "Ertons hattrick sänkte Umeå" (in Swedish). Djurgårdens IF. 3 March 2013. Archived from the original on 8 March 2013. Retrieved 12 March 2013.
  8. "Allsvenskan, herrar Matchinformation: Helsingborgs IF – Djurgården" (in Swedish). SvFF. 31 March 2013. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  9. "Månsson: Nu har det vänt för Djurgården". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 30 May 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  10. "Han jagas av storklubbar". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 25 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  11. "IFK Göteborg cupmästare efter straffar" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 26 May 2013. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  12. "Här är allsvenskans 50 bästa spelare – år 2013". Expressen (in Swedish). 6 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  13. "Allsvenskans 50 bästa spelare". Aftonbladet (in Swedish). 26 October 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  14. "Djurgarden star Daniel Amartey confirms transfer talks with Liverpool". Metro. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 28 January 2014.
  15. "Silkeborg IF vs. FC Copenhagen - Football Match Summary - July 20, 2014". ESPN. Archived from the original on 20 February 2019. Retrieved 19 February 2019.
  16. "Leicester City Sign Ghana Star Daniel Amartey". Leicester City F.C. 22 January 2016.
  17. "Leicester City 1–0 Norwich City". BBC Sport. 27 February 2016.
  18. "Leicester City's Daniel Amartey filling the Kante void will take time". Leicester Mercury. 29 September 2016. Archived from the original on 30 September 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2017.
  19. https://sportsbeatfeed.co.uk/2016/09/amartey-learning-drinkwater-leicester/
  20. "Leicester City: What has changed at the Premier League champions?". BBC Sport. 9 February 2017. Retrieved 12 February 2017.
  21. "Stoke City 2–2 Leicester City". BBC Sport. 17 December 2016.
  22. "Leicester City 3–1 Derby County Leicester". BBC Sport. 8 February 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2017.
  23. https://uk.reuters.com/article/uk-soccer-england-lei-whu-amartey/leicester-manager-puel-concerned-about-injured-amartey-idUKKCN1N10TH
  24. https://www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/SportsArchive/Daniel-Amartey-making-promising-recovery-from-horror-injury-739260#
  25. "Amartey on his way out of Leicester City, claims Ghana defender's agent". Goal. 19 May 2020. Retrieved 20 June 2020.
  26. "Leicester 0-2 Arsenal". BBC. 23 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  27. "Man City 2-5 Leicester". BBC. 27 September 2020. Retrieved 28 September 2020.
  28. "Ghana U20 get their revenge against Nigeria U-20 in five-goal thriller". Ghana Soccernet. 25 May 2012. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  29. "Talangen kunde spelat VM – stoppades av Dif". Expressen (in Swedish). 25 June 2013. Retrieved 26 June 2013.
  30. MJClayton (6 February 2017). "Leicester City's Amartey in AFCON team of tournament – at centre-half". Leicester Mercury. Retrieved 9 February 2017.
  31. "Eliteprospects.com – Daniel Amartey". Eliteprospects. 26 June 2013. Archived from the original on 28 September 2013.
  32. "Amartey, Daniel". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmerman. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  33. "PHOTOS: Daniel Amartey picks up Superliga and Cup medals in Denmark". social_image. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
  34. "Daniel Amartey: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  35. "Ghana – D. Amartey – Profile with news, career statistics and history". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 July 2016.
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