Bruce José Djité (French pronunciation: /ˈdʒɪˈteɪ/ JI-tay; born 25 March 1987) is an Australian executive and former association football (soccer) player.
[5][8][4] Djite first played soccer during a four-month stay with his family in Ivory Coast[6] in 1993, and loved it, so registered with his local amateur club.
[4] He joined the Marconi Stallions in 2004 at the age of 16, after the demise of Northern Spirit FC, whom Djite signed for in 2002–03 National Soccer League season.
Upon his return to Australia, Djite signed for Adelaide United for the remainder of the 2006–07 A-League season, scoring three goals with an assist in thirteen matches.
[5] Djite signed a three-year contract with Adelaide United in March 2007 and Djite scored his first goal for Adelaide United in a competitive fixture on 11 April 2007 in AFC Champions League against South Korea K-League champions Seongnam Ilhwa, deftly controlling the ball in the penalty box to volley it into the back of the goal net.
Djite consistently displayed his lethal acceleration, footspeed and strength in the penalty area and finished 2008–2009 Süper Lig season with 6 goals and two assists in twenty-eight matches played.
[16][15] In the 2009–10 Süper Lig off-season, Djite revealed in an interview with FourFourTwo reporter Ben Somerford, the club Hajduk Split in Croatia were interested in his services but he rejected the move.
[16] On 28 August 2010, it was announced by billionaire tycoon Clive Palmer that Djite would return home to Australia to play in the 2010–2011 A-League with Gold Coast United for 3 years, replacing New Zealand striker Shane Smeltz who had joined Gençlerbirliği.
[18] Djite was given the squad number 11 and scored his first goal for Adelaide United in the 2011–12 A-League on 19 November 2011 by showing his exceptional footspeed and physical strength in the penalty area before sharply shooting past the goalkeeper Tony Warner and into the back of the goal net in the 44th minute of the 1–1 match draw against Wellington Phoenix at Westpac Stadium in New Zealand.
[20] In March 2011, due to the long 2011–2012 A-League off season, Adelaide United agreed for Djite to be loaned to Chinese Super League club Jiangsu Sainty.
[21] Djite was given squad number 19 and debuted for Jiangsu Sainty in the 2011–2012 Chinese Super League season on 3 April 2011 in the match against Beijing Guoan.
[32] On 26 July 2016, after showing good form in Adelaide United's championship-winning season, Djite signed with Korean club Suwon FC, joining countryman Adrian Leijer.
[5] Djite was a star striker for the Young Socceroos during their 2006 tournament in South America scoring five goals in thirteen caps and was also chosen in the Australia Under-20 squad to compete at the 2006 AFC Youth Championships, in India.
[35] Djite was substituted on at half-time and his best chance to score a goal for Australia came when he rounded the Singapore goalkeeper but his shot in the penalty area was blocked by Lionel Lewis, the ball going out for a corner kick.
As a player, Djite was known for his speed, strength and good height with ball heading skills and played in Turkey for professional football team, Gençlerbirliği S.K.