Taye Ismaila Taiwo (born 16 April 1985) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defender for RoPS.
Club career
Lobi Stars
After spending a year at Nigeria Division 1 club Gabros International, Taiwo was bought by Nigeria Premier League side, Lobi Stars. He spent one season at Lobi Stars.
Olympique de Marseille
In 2005, at the age of 20, Taiwo was signed by French club, Olympique de Marseille. Taiwo was brought in to fill the void Bixente Lizarazu had left when he departed for Bayern Munich. The Nigerian left back scored Marseille's winning goal against Olympique Lyonnais on 21 March 2010, with a trademark left-footed strike from long range. He also scored Marseille's winning goal against US Boulogne on 17 April 2010. On 23 April 2011, Taiwo scored the only goal at the Stade de France against Montpellier HSC to win the 2011 Coupe de la Ligue. After the match, Taiwo grabbed a microphone and joined fans in singing an expletive-laden chant aimed at the club's rivals PSG, narrowly escaping a ban from the LFP.
Milan
On 9 May 2011, A.C. Milan coach, Massimiliano Allegri, confirmed the signing of Taiwo along with French defender Philippe Mexès. The two were to play for Milan for the 2011–12 season.He made his debut with the club on 24 September 2011 in the home league match won 1–0 against Cesena where he was eventually replaced by Luca Antonini. In December 2011, Taiwo made an interview for the French sports newspaper L'Équipe where he said that he was disappointed with his current experience at A.C. Milan, commenting on problems with Massimiliano Allegri and on the fact that he wasn't playing. Despite the player spending much time on the substitutes bench, Taiwo iterated that he remained committed to the Italian club.
Queens Park Rangers
On 24 January 2012, Queens Park Rangers secured the signing of Taiwo from AC Milan on a loan deal until the end of the season, with the option to buy for a fee of around £3.5 million. After making a move to QPR, Taiwo said he was expecting to make an impact at the club, rather than sitting on the bench. He made his debut on 1 February against Aston Villa in Birmingham, in a match which ended 2–2. After making two appearance at Queens Park Rangers so far, Taiwo claimed that he would stay at QPR. He scored his first goal for QPR through a fantastic executed curling effort from a free kick 27 yards out in a 3–1 defeat against Sunderland on 24 March 2012.
Dynamo Kyiv
On 31 July 2012, Taiwo joined Ukrainian club Dynamo Kyiv on a one-year loan deal with the option of making the move permanent at the end of the season.
Bursaspor
On 5 July 2013, Taiwo signed a three-year deal with Turkish side Bursaspor. He was linked with a move to the Premier League by joining newly promoted club Cardiff City, but opted to move to Turkey. On 1 August 2013, Taiwo scored on his Bursaspor debut, in a 2–2 draw Vojvodina in the first leg of their Europa League third qualifying round tie. On 27 April 2015, Taiwo mutually agreed to have his contract terminated with Bursaspor.
Lausanne-Sport
On 30 January 2017, Taiwo signed for Lausanne until the end of the 2016/17 season.
AFC Eskilstuna
Taye Taiwo joined Allsvenskan side AFC Eskilstuna for the remainder of the season August 2017.
Rovaniemen Palloseura
In 2018, Taye Taiwo joined Veikkausliiga side Rovaniemen Palloseura for the season 2018.
