Elijah Gift

Elijah Gift Izobodo John (born 11 June 2006) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a winger for Bilbao Athletic.

Early life Gift was born in Corella, Navarre, Spain to a Nigerian father and a Spanish mother of Cuban descent. His family moved to England around 2015 for work reasons.

Club career As a child in Spain, Gift joined the Escuela de Fútbol Francisco Castejón. After moving to England in 2015, he joined the youth academy of English side Huddersfield Town and in 2017, was signed Premier League side Liverpool.

He signed for Athletic Bilbao in 2023 for a fee of around €1 million and was expected initially to play for CD Basconia, the club's fifth-tier farm team for teenagers, but was unable to do so due to technicalities concerning its status as a semi-independent organisation and the recent completion of his international transfer, so was instead assigned to the Juvenil A (under-19) squad. He started his senior career with the reserve team Athletic Bilbao B, making his debut during a 3–1 win over UD Mutilvera in the Segunda Federación on 2 March 2024. In the 2025–26 season, he scored twice in 30 appearances.

In June 2026, Gift was called up to do the pre-season with the first team with Edin Terzić. On 31 August, he was loaned to Segunda División side SD Eibar for one year.

International career Gift has represented Spain internationally at youth levels.

Style of play Gift mainly operates as a winger. He is known for his strength.