Chukwubuike Junior Adamu (born 6 June 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a forward for Bundesliga club SC Freiburg. Born in Nigeria, he plays for the Austria national team.

Junior Adamu
Adamu with Red Bull Salzburg in 2022
Personal information
Full name Chukwubuike Junior Adamu
Date of birth (2001-06-06) 6 June 2001 (age 23)
Place of birth Kano, Nigeria
Height 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
SC Freiburg
Number 20
Youth career
2011–2014 GSV Wacker
2014–2015 Grazer AK
2015–2018 Red Bull Salzburg
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2020 FC Liefering 49 (26)
2020–2023 Red Bull Salzburg 58 (17)
2021St. Gallen (loan) 14 (6)
2023– SC Freiburg 25 (2)
2023 SC Freiburg II 2 (0)
International career
2018–2019 Austria U18 6 (0)
2019–2020 Austria U19 4 (3)
2020– Austria U21 12 (10)
2021– Austria 9 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:28, 8 November 2024(UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 16:28, 14 November 2024 (UTC)

Club career

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Adamu started his career with the youth team of GSV Wacker. In January 2014 he came to Grazer AK. In 2015, he joined the Red Bull Salzburg Academy, where he progressed through the levels from U15 to U18.

In September 2017, he was included in the FC Liefering squad for the first time. In the same month, he also debuted for Red Bull Salzburg's UEFA Youth League team, coming on for Nicolas Meister in a match against Bordeaux.

He made his professional debut playing for FC Liefering against WSG Wattens in November 2018 as he came in for Karim Adeyemi. In September 2020, he made his debut for Red Bull Salzburg in an Austrian Cup match against SW Bregen, coming on in the 75th minute for Masaya Okugawa.[2]

On 15 February 2021, Adamu moved on loan to Swiss Super League team St. Gallen.[3]

Adamu scored his first goal for Red Bull Salzburg in a 1–0 league win over Admira on 14 August 2021.[4] The goal sealed Salzburg's fifth victory on the road in a row, the longest such run the club had had in a decade.[4] Three days later, he made his first appearance in the UEFA Champions League, coming on as a substitute in a 2–1 home win over Danish Superliga champions Brøndby in the first leg of their play-off round clash.[5] On 16 February 2022, Adamu scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 1–1 home draw against Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in the first leg of the round of 16 tie after coming on as a substitute for Noah Okafor.[6]

On 22 June 2023, German Bundesliga club SC Freiburg announced the signing of Adamu with an undisclosed contract.[7]

International career

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Born in Nigeria, Adamu represents Austria at international level and has played for the Austria U18, Austria U19, and Austria U21 teams.

He made his first appearance in the Austria senior national team on 12 November 2021 in a World Cup qualifier match vs. Israel.[8]

 
Adamu playing for Austria U21 in 2022

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 8 November 2024[9]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
FC Liefering 2018–19 2. Liga 16 5 16 5
2019–20 2. Liga 20 14 20 14
2020–21 2. Liga 13 7 13 7
Total 49 26 0 0 0 0 49 26
Red Bull Salzburg 2020–21 Austrian Bundesliga 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0
2021–22 Austrian Bundesliga 30 7 4 1 9[b] 1 0 0 43 9
2022–23 Austrian Bundesliga 28 10 4 3 8[c] 1 0 0 40 14
Total 58 17 9 4 17 2 0 0 84 23
St. Gallen (loan) 2020–21 Swiss Super League 14 6 4 2 18 8
SC Freiburg 2023–24 Bundesliga 15 0 1 0 6[d] 1 22 1
2024–25 Bundesliga 10 2 2 2 0 0 12 4
Total 25 2 3 2 6 1 34 5
SC Freiburg II 2023–24 3. Liga 1 0 1 0
Career total 147 47 16 8 23 3 0 0 186 62
  1. ^ Includes Austrian Cup, Swiss Cup
  2. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  3. ^ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

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As of match played 14 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Austria 2021 1 0
2022 2 0
2023 3 0
2024 3 0
Total 9 0

Honours

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Red Bull Salzburg

References

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  1. ^ "Junior Adamu". FC Red Bull Salzburg. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. ^ FC Salzburg Wiki
  3. ^ "FCSG: FC St.Gallen verpflichtet 19-jährigen Stürmer: Junior Adamu kommt leihweise vom FC Red Bull Salzburg zu den Espen" [FC St.Gallen signs 19-year-old striker: Junior Adamu comes to the Espen on loan from FC Red Bull Salzburg]. Tagblatt (in German). 15 February 2021. Retrieved 15 February 2021.
  4. ^ a b "Successful Dress Rehearsal". Red Bull Salzburg. 14 August 2021. Retrieved 17 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Salzburg 2-1 Brøndby". UEFA. 17 August 2021.
  6. ^ "Red Bull Salzburg 1-1 Bayern Munich". BBC Sport. 16 February 2022. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  7. ^ "Herzlich willkommen, Junior!" (in German). SC Freiburg. 22 June 2023. Retrieved 22 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Austria v Israel game report". FIFA. 12 November 2021. Retrieved 17 November 2021.
  9. ^ Junior Adamu at Soccerway. Retrieved 17 August 2021.