Divock Origi

Early career

Origi began his career playing football at Genk's youth academy where he spent nine years before signing for Lille in May 2010, aged 15, after turning down an approach by Manchester United.

Lille

On 24 January 2013, Origi was an unused substitute in Lille's 3–1 away win over Plabennec in a 2012–13 Coupe de France match. Nine days later, he scored on his competitive debut for the senior Lille side, coming on as a substitute in the 69th minute for Ronny Rodelin and scoring to bring his side level from 1–0 down against Troyes.

Liverpool

On 29 July 2014, Premier League club Liverpool announced that they had completed a £10 million transfer for Origi, who signed a five-year contract, but was immediately loaned back to Lille for the 2014–15 season.

Loan to Lille

In his first match back in Lille, Origi scored his first goal of the new Ligue 1 season through a penalty against Caen to secure a 1–0 win for his side. This was after he had been brought down in the box by defender Dennis Appiah, who was sent off by the referee towards the 70th minute. On 11 December 2014, as Lille lost 0–3 at home to VfL Wolfsburg to be eliminated from the UEFA Europa League group stage, Origi had a penalty saved by Diego Benaglio. On 15 March 2015, Origi scored a hat-trick for Lille in a 3–0 league win against Rennes.

Return to Liverpool

On 11 July 2015, Origi was named in Liverpool's 30-man squad for their pre-season tour of Thailand,…

Origi has represented Belgium at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19 and under-21 level. He scored ten goals while in the under-19 team, the first in a 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification match against Belarus on 12 October 2012. The Football Kenya Federation expressed an interest in persuading Origi to play for the Kenya senior national team in the future. However, on 13 May 2014, Belgium senior national team manager Marc Wilmots announced Origi would be part of the 23-man squad representing Belgium at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Origi came on as a substitute for Romelu Lukaku in the 58th minute of the opening Group H game against Algeria in Belo Horizonte on 17 June. In Belgium's second match, again after coming on as a substitute for Lukaku, he scored his first senior international goal in the 88th minute of a 1–0 win over Russia to qualify the Red Devils for the knockout stage. In so doing, at 19 years, two months and four days, he became the youngest goalscorer of the tournament (until American winger Julian Green scored against Belgium during their round of 16 match), the youngest goalscorer in Belgian World Cup history, and the first player of Kenyan origin to score at a World Cup finals. For his performances, he was named the Young Talent of the 2014 Belgian Sportsman of the year awards. Origi scored once in Belgium's successful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign, in a 6–0 home win over Andorra on 10 October 2014. He was included in the squad for…

Liverpool manager Jürgen Klopp described Origi as "a legend on and off the pitch. Fantastic footballer, a world class striker and [he] is our best finisher".

Origi was born in Ostend and grew up in Houthalen-Oost. He was born into a family of footballers: his father, Mike Origi, played for KV Oostende (at the time Divock was born) and Genk, among other Belgian clubs, as well as the Kenya national team. His uncle, Austin Oduor Origi, played for Gor Mahia in the Kenyan Premier League while his other uncles, Gerald and Anthony, played for Tusker. His cousin, Arnold Origi, is also a professional player who has been capped for the Kenyan national team as a goalkeeper. The Origi family is of Kenyan Luo ethnicity. Origi speaks four languages fluently: Swahili, English, Dutch and French. Origi is a Christian. He has said, "My religion, being a Christian, has values of working hard, staying focused on the right things that helps you in life. Of course you're going to slip. I made mistakes. But those mistakes helped me and still help me these days." In 2021, the Divock Origi Scholarship was introduced when Origi partnered with the University of Liverpool to provide undergraduate courses to students with financial troubles. The scholarship covers tuition fees (£9,250 per year) as well as an annual payment of £3,000 towards living costs. Originally, in the 2021–22 academic year, the scholarship was offered to two students with the prospect to increase the enrolment in the future.