Jores Okore

Jores Okore (born 11 August 1992) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Aston Villa in the Premier League and the Danish national team.

Okore is considered a capable and aggressive defender, who is known for his pace and strength.

Early life
Okore was born in Abidjan, Ivory Coast; he moved to Denmark with his family at the age of 3, where he played football from the age of 8 with B.93 in the Østerbro district of Copenhagen. He moved to F.C. Nordsjælland in 2007, where he captained the youth side.

F.C. Nordsjælland
Having previously made a handful of appearances in Danish Cup games, including being part of the FCN cup winning team in 2010–11. Okore made his league debut against AC Horsens on 3 April 2011, as a substitute for Michael Parkhurst. He would continue to making first team appearances in place of the injured Parkhurst, for the rest of the 2010–11 season, going on to make eleven league appearances with one assist. Jorés Okore signed a new four year contract with the Farum based club in June 2011, and was made an official member of the senior squad for the 2011–12 Superliga season by newly appointed head coach Kasper Hjulmand.

On 18 September 2011, Okore scored his first senior goal for F.C. Nordsjælland, in a 2–0 league win over Brøndby. It was his only goal in that season. In November 2011 he signed a new contract, extending his existing contract with FCN to December 2016. He was made vice-captain of F.C. Nordsjælland for the 2012-2013 season

In the January transfer window 2013, Okore turned down moves to both Chelsea and Ukrainian club Metalist Kharkiv.

Aston Villa
On 13 June 2013, Okore signed for Aston Villa on a four-year deal for a fee believed to be in the region of £4 million. FC Nordsjælland confirmed via the club's official Twitter and Facebook accounts that he was their most expensive sale ever.

International career
On 6 September 2011, Okore made his international youth debut for the Danish under-21 at the age of 19, participating in a UEFA Under-21 Championship Qualifier, winning 3–0 over Northern Ireland.

Having made his debut two months earlier for the U21s, on 6 November 2011 Jores Okore was called up to the Denmark national football team as a replacement for Simon Kjær, for a friendly against Sweden on 11 November 2011. He made his senior debut in that match, coming on at the 62nd minute, replacing his club teammate Andreas Bjelland. Okore was retained for the following international friendly against Finland, where he received his second cap and first start on 15 November 2011.

Okore was once again called up in December 2011, for Denmark's tour of Thailand in January. On the 24th of May 2012, it was announced that Okore had been selected for Denmark's squad for Euro 2012 as well as the preceding friendly matches against Brazil and Australia.

Club

 * Danish Superliga:
 * Winners: 2011–12
 * Danish Cup:
 * Winners: 2010–11