Ime Okon: Soccer Centre Back, Club, Caps and Net Worth

Ime Okon is a South African soccer centre back, born on 20 February 2004, who joined Hannover 96 of Germany's 2. Bundesliga in July 2025 after two seasons at SuperSport United. He is a Bafana Bafana defender with a Nigerian father and a South African mother, which is why he was eligible for the Super Eagles before he committed his international future to South Africa in 2025. His full name is Ime Daniel Okon.

The sections below cover his background in Florida, Gauteng, his road from SuperSport United to Hannover, how he could have worn the green of Nigeria, and why no trustworthy net worth figure exists for him yet. His caps, appearances and fixtures change after every match, so those numbers live in the data modules above, and the words here are written to stay true next season.

Who Is Ime Okon?

Ime Daniel Okon was born in South Africa on 20 February 2004 to a Nigerian father and a South African mother, and he grew up in Florida, Gauteng. He attended Florida Park High School before soccer became his profession. The record places his birth in South Africa without naming the city, so the safest description is a Gauteng raised South African with Nigerian heritage. Sport clearly runs in the house, because he is the brother of the South African sprinter Udeme Okon.

Two of the searches that lead to him need a short explanation. 'Ime Daniel Okon' is simply his full name, and it refers to the same player. 'Okon' on its own casts a wider net, because it is a surname shared by many people who have nothing to do with soccer. If a search for Okon returns a different sportsman or a public figure, add the first name Ime and the Hannover 96 or Bafana Bafana tag to land on the right man.

Which Club Does Ime Okon Play For? The Road From SuperSport to Hannover

Okon joined Hannover 96 in July 2025, and the German club plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of the German league system. He arrived on a free transfer after his SuperSport United contract expired, signed a four year deal, and was listed with the number 20 shirt in 2026. Hannover described him as the 13th signing of their 2025 summer window. Nigerian outlet Soccernet NG, reporting the move in 2025, described Okon as Nigeria eligible. Hannover 96 won German championships in 1938 and 1954 (Wikipedia: Hannover 96).

The road to Germany started in the PSL. Okon began his senior career at SuperSport United in 2023, and to the end of the 2024-25 season he had made 53 appearances and scored two goals for the club. That gave a European club real evidence to judge him on. There was no reported fee, because a player whose contract has expired moves as a free agent and no transfer fee changes hands.

His 53 appearances remain part of SuperSport United's record. As for what comes next, Foot Africa reported in 2026 that Olympique Lyon and AS Monaco were interested in him. That claim came from a single outlet and was not confirmed, so it should be read as a report and nothing firmer until a club says otherwise.

What Does Okon Do on the Pitch?

Okon is a centre back (CB on a team sheet), a player stationed at the heart of the defence, with the main task of keeping the ball out of the net. His record shows he can contribute at the other end as well. He scored twice for SuperSport United, once for South Africa B and once for the senior side by September 2026, which is a healthy return for a player whose work is mostly done facing his own goal.

The two performances that define his story so far both came in national colours. On 7 June 2025 he scored against Zimbabwe at the COSAFA Cup, three days after his debut at that level, and on 26 September 2026 he scored his first senior goal in the 2 to 1 win over Guinea at Orlando Stadium. A centre back is best read through clean sheets and minutes completed, so when you read the match modules, look at those before you look at the goals column.

Why Could a South African Defender Have Played for Nigeria?

Nigerian readers ask about Okon because, for a time, he could have been theirs. A soccer player can represent a country whose nationality he holds, and nationality can come through the place of birth or through a parent. Okon, born in South Africa to a Nigerian father, qualified on both counts, by birth for Bafana Bafana and by parentage for the Super Eagles. That is the whole of the dual nationality position, and it is the same route that has taken many players born in Europe into African national teams, only this time both options were African.

When Hannover signed him in July 2025, Nigerian outlets reported the arrival of a Nigeria eligible defender in German soccer, and Legit.ng reported in 2025 that he had committed his international future to South Africa. There was no switch of allegiance, because he had never played for Nigeria, and his first caps of any kind had already come in a South African shirt a month earlier. It could be argued that both countries come out of the story well. Nigeria's interest shows how wide the Super Eagles net is cast, and South Africa kept a defender raised in its own league.

The Bafana Bafana Record: How Many Caps Does Ime Okon Have?

The live caps module above holds his current total, because that number moves with every international window. What does not move is the order of events. Okon made his debut for the South Africa B team on 4 June 2025 against Mozambique, in the opening match of the 2025 COSAFA Cup, the regional championship of southern Africa. He scored his first goal at that level against Zimbabwe on 7 June 2025, and his totals at that level stand at five caps and one goal.

What did those five B caps actually mean for his career? South Africa entered a B selection at that tournament, so the appearances are recorded separately from senior caps. The entry's totals for Okon conflict, with nine senior in one place and 14 overall in another, so the live data carries the current figure. For a young defender the B caps worked as an audition, and they showed which country he was leaning towards a month before the Hannover move.

His senior career includes selection for South Africa at the 2026 World Cup. His first senior goal followed on 26 September 2026 in the 2 to 1 win over Guinea at Orlando Stadium, in qualifying for the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations. A squad listing does not tell you how many minutes a player received, so check the match records before assuming he featured in a particular game. He has committed his international future to South Africa (Legit.ng, 2025).

Ime Okon net worth

Ime Okon has no reported net worth figure from a news outlet, so there is no outlet or publication year to attribute for his wealth. Salary Sport estimates his Hannover 96 salary in 2026 at about GBP 3,100 a week and GBP 161,200 a year, and lists estimated career earnings of GBP 363,376. These are published estimates, not accounts, and neither salary nor career earnings establishes his net worth.

For a rough currency illustration, using assumed rates of NGN 2,000, KES 170, ZAR 23 and GHS 15 per pound, that weekly salary is about 6.2 million naira, 527,000 Kenyan shillings, 71,300 rand or 46,500 cedis. The annual estimate is about 322 million naira, 27.4 million Kenyan shillings, 3.7 million rand or 2.4 million cedis. These are illustrative conversions using stated assumptions, not dated exchange rate quotations.

No separate image rights income figure, reporting outlet or publication year is available. The Soccerway listing gives a market value of about EUR 1.9 million, with no valuation year supplied. Using illustrative assumptions of NGN 1,700, KES 145, ZAR 20 and GHS 13 per euro, that is roughly 3.2 billion naira, 276 million Kenyan shillings, 38 million rand or 24.7 million cedis. Market value puts a possible price on a transfer rather than measuring the player's personal wealth, and his free transfer to Hannover in July 2025 does not establish his wealth.

No endorsement deals or endorsement income figures are documented in the available information, so there is no amount, outlet or year to attribute for endorsements. Missing image rights and endorsement figures do not mean those earnings are zero. His July 2025 deal runs to June 2029, but its duration does not turn published earnings estimates into a verified net worth.

How to Watch Okon From Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana and Uganda

Following Okon from Africa takes two quite different viewing habits. Bafana Bafana matches travel well, and they are widely carried on pay TV and streaming across the continent, so his international appearances are the easy part. Hannover's 2. Bundesliga matches are harder to find from Lagos, Nairobi, Johannesburg, Accra or Kampala, which is why many supporters rely on highlights and match reports on news sites. Where a broadcaster holds the rights in your country, the viewing module lists it as data for that date, and it should be read as information, never as a promise that a given match will be shown.

Each fixture card displays four kick off times together: GMT, SAST, WAT and EAT, so no time sums are needed from you. As a rough guide, Accra sits on GMT, Lagos is one hour ahead of it, Johannesburg two, and Nairobi and Kampala three. Germany changes its clocks with the seasons and none of these five countries do, so a Hannover match at the same German time reaches South African screens an hour later in the European winter than in the summer. Check the dated fixture card before you plan an afternoon around it, then compare his record with other African footballers playing abroad.