James-Edward Manfred Léa Siliki (born 12 June 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga I club Gloria Buzău. Born in France, he represented Cameroon at international level.

James Léa Siliki
Léa Siliki with Rennes in 2016
Personal information
Full name James-Edward Manfred Léa Siliki[1]
Date of birth (1996-06-12) 12 June 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth Sarcelles, France
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Midfielder
Team information
Current team
Gloria Buzău
Youth career
2002–2004 RC Gonesse
2004–2011 Paris Saint-Germain
2011–2014 Guingamp
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014 Guingamp B 3 (1)
2014–2020 Rennes B 56 (11)
2017–2022 Rennes 84 (3)
2021–2022Middlesbrough (loan) 11 (0)
2022–2023 Estoril 22 (3)
2024 Gençlerbirliği 9 (0)
2025– Gloria Buzău 0 (0)
International career
2014 France U19 3 (0)
2021–2022 Cameroon 11 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Cameroon
Africa Cup of Nations
Third place 2021 Cameroon
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 February 2025
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 3 February 2022

Early life

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Léa Siliki was born in Sarcelles, France, to Cameroonian parents.[2] He acquired French nationality on 18 November 1998, through the collective effect of his parents' naturalization.[3]

Club career

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Léa Siliki made his Ligue 1 debut with Rennes on 28 January 2017 against Nantes, replacing Aldo Kalulu after 78 minutes.[4]

On 31 August 2021, Léa Siliki joined EFL Championship club Middlesbrough on loan for the duration of the 2021–22 season.[5] Having not played a single minute since the manager who had brought Léa Siliki to Teesside, Neil Warnock, had been replaced by Chris Wilder, the midfielder was told by Wilder that he could leave the club during the January transfer window.[6] His return to action came in February 2022, being replaced at half-time during a 3–2 defeat to struggling Barnsley.[7]

On 22 July 2022, Léa Siliki signed for Primeira Liga club Estoril on a three-year contract.[8] On 1 September 2023, Estoril announced that Léa Siliki's contract had been terminated by mutual agreement, after he had been frozen out of the squad by manager Álvaro Pacheco.[9]

On 9 February 2024, Siliki signed with Gençlerbirliği in Turkey until the end of the 2023–24 season.[10]

International career

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He played for the France U19 national team in 2014. He debuted with the senior Cameroon national team in a 1–0 friendly win over Nigeria on 4 June 2021.[11]

Personal life

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In March 2022, Léa Siliki was subjected to racist abuse on Instagram after posting a celebration of Cameroon's qualification for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[12]

Career statistics

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As of match played 28 April 2024[13]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Guingamp B 2013–14 CFA 2 3 1 3 1
Rennes B 2014–15 CFA 2 9 1 9 1
2015–16 CFA 2 20 2 20 2
2016–17 CFA 21 7 21 7
2017–18 National 2 1 1 1 1
2018–19 National 3 4 0 4 0
2019–20 National 3 0 0 0 0
2020–21 National 3 1 0 1 0
Total 56 11 56 11
Rennes 2016–17 Ligue 1 1 0 1 0 0 0 2 0
2017–18 Ligue 1 32 3 1 0 3 0 36 3
2018–19 Ligue 1 24 0 3 0 1 0 6[a] 0 34 0
2019–20 Ligue 1 20 0 5 1 0 0 3[a] 0 1[b] 0 29 1
2020–21 Ligue 1 7 0 1 0 4[c] 0 12 0
2021–22 Ligue 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 84 3 11 1 4 0 13 0 1 0 113 4
Middlesbrough (loan) 2021–22 Championship 11 0 0 0 11 0
Estoril 2022–23 Primeira Liga 22 3 2 1 1 0 25 4
2023–24 Primeira Liga 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 22 3 2 1 1 0 25 4
Gençlerbirliği 2023–24 TFF First League 9 0 9 0
Gloria Buzău 2024–25 Liga I 0 0 9 0
Career total 185 18 13 2 5 0 13 0 1 0 217 20
  1. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  2. ^ Appearance in Trophée des Champions
  3. ^ Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

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As of match played 3 February 2022[14]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Cameroon
2021 7 0
2014 4 0
Total 11 0

Honours

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Rennes B

Rennes

Cameroon

References

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  1. ^ "EFL squad list 2021/22 & U21 registered contracted players" (PDF). English Football League. Retrieved 12 February 2022.
  2. ^ "James Léa Siliki, une faim de lion". Ouest-France.fr. 5 September 2014.
  3. ^ "JORF n° 0269 du 20 novembre 1998 - Légifrance" (PDF). legifrance.gouv.fr (in French). p. 17546. Retrieved 29 November 2023.
  4. ^ "Rennes 1 - 1 FC Nantes" (in French). Retrieved 28 January 2017.
  5. ^ "James Léa Siliki Arrives On Loan". www.mfc.co.uk. 31 August 2021. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  6. ^ Johns, Craig (15 January 2022). "What went wrong for James Lea Siliki at Middlesbrough, as midfielder told he can leave". TeessideLive. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  7. ^ "Barnsley 3–2 Middlesbrough". BBC Sport. 26 February 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  8. ^ "OFICIAL: Estoril reforça meio-campo com camaronês Lea Siliki". Maisfutebol (in Portuguese). 22 July 2022. Retrieved 22 July 2022.
  9. ^ "Léa-Siliki rescindiu por mútuo acordo (Estoril)" [Léa-Siliki terminated by mutual agreement (Estoril)] (in European Portuguese). A Bola. 1 September 2023. Retrieved 3 September 2023.
  10. ^ "JAMES LEA SİLİKİ GENÇLERBİRLİĞİ'MİZDE" [JAMES LEA SILIKI AT GENÇLERBIRLIĞI] (in Turkish). Gençlerbirliği. 10 February 2024. Retrieved 10 February 2024.
  11. ^ "Match Report of Nigeria vs Cameroon - 2021-06-04 - FIFA Friendlies - Global Sports Archive". globalsportsarchive.com.
  12. ^ Johns, Craig (31 March 2022). "Middlesbrough loanee James Lea Siliki subjected to vile racist abuse on Instagram". Teesside Live. Retrieved 3 May 2022.
  13. ^ James Léa Siliki at Soccerway
  14. ^ James Léa Siliki at National-Football-Teams.com
  15. ^ AfricaNews (6 February 2022). "Cameroon beats Burkina Faso to end AFCON 2021 in third place". Africanews. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
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