Emmanuel Chinenye Emenike (born 10 May 1987) is a Nigerian former footballer who played as a striker.
Club career
Delta Force F.C. Emenike started his football career with Delta Force. At the club, he experienced many hardships. He walked on foot to training and back, even though it could take an hour and a half. The Delta State government also refused the club funds, so he wasn't paid regularly.
Mpumalanga Black Aces
Later on his career, he would earn his first salary when he moved to South Africa. He transferred to South African National First Division team Mpumalanga Black Aces in January 2008 and debuted against Dynamos F.C. on 17 February 2008. He scored his first goal with the team in his debut but Black Aces lost the match 4–2. He was a member of the Black Aces team that lost against Mamelodi Sundowns in the Nedbank Cup final.
F.C. Cape Town
In May 2008, he joined First Division team F.C. Cape Town.
Karabükspor
In 2009 Emenike signed a one-year loan deal with Karabükspor. Emenike made his debut in the opening game of the 1.Lig season on 23 August 2009 in a 3–3 draw against Samsunspor. He would score his first goal on 11 October, against Kartal. Emenike would score his first hat-trick of his Turkish career in a 6–1 win over Mersin İdmanyurdu and score another hat-trick on 14 February 2010 in a 4–2 win over Kayseri Erciyesspor. He went on to score 16 goals in the 1.Lig, leading the club to the title and automatic promotion.
Emenike won the 1.Lig Best Foreign Player award at the end of the 2009–10 season, and also had his contract extended by three years for 300.000 €.
Emenike scored on his Süper Lig debut, helping Karabükspor to a 2–1 victory over Manisaspor. On 28 November 2010, he scored his first hat-trick in Süper Lig career in a 3–0 win over Bucaspor. He subsequently scored a total of 14 goals in his debut Süper Lig season.
In May 2011, he initiated a lawsuit against the newspaper 'Haber Turk' for what Emenike's agents describe as "misleading" and "malicious" claim that Emenike's age is 7 years different from what is shown on his passport.
Fenerbahçe
On 25 May 2011, Emenike joined Fenerbahçe for an undisclosed fee, believed to be around 9 million euros.
Spartak Moscow
On 28 July 2011, he was sold to Spartak Moscow for €10 million due to the match fixing claim, which has been disproven by the court later on, involving Fenerbahce and Emenike. Emenike had never appeared in a competitive match for Fenerbahçe.
Emenike made his debut on the opening game of the season coming on as a substitute for Ari in the 76th minute, against Anzhi Makhachkala on 14 August 2011. Emenike made his Europa League debut in a 2–2 draw against Polish side Legia Warsaw in the first leg of the qualification round. Emenike scored his first goal for the club with a 2–2 draw against CSKA Moscow. On 29 October 2011, Emenike scored his first hat-trick in a 3–0 win over Lokomotiv Moscow and the next game when Spartak played against Lokomotiv, he would score twice.
Towards the end of season, Emenike was fined about US$17,000 for an offensive gesture after Dynamo Moscow fans, who racially abused him during a match between Spartak and Dynamo, which Spartak won 3–1 and he scored. Vladimir Vasilyev, a Russian FA's ethics committee official, explained the fine, stating it was "an adequate punishment".
In the last game of the season against champions Zenit Saint Petersburg, Emenike scored the second goal in the game but received a red card after he appeared to do a mock vein-tapping in preparation for an imaginary heroin injection. Eventually, Spartak Moscow would win 3–2. After the game, Emenike made an explanation celebration for gratitude to his parents The meeting between House of Football Control and Disciplinary Committee refused to consider the incident and shifted responsibility for the decision by the Ethics Committee.
In the 2011–12 season, Emenike scored 13 goals (all in the league) and is the second top-scorer behind Artyom Dzyuba, who scored one more than Emenike. At the end of the season, Emenike signed a four-year deal and increased his buy-out clause to $42 million.