A failed move to Queens Park Rangers saw him fall out of favour with manager Steve Clarke and he was sold to Cardiff City in August 2013 for a fee of £2.25 million.

[8][9] Odemwingie had an unsuccessful trial with Anderlecht before he signed for La Louvière in 2002 and made his mark by helping the club to win the Belgian Cup in his first season.

[10] This earned La Louvière qualification into the UEFA Cup where they played Portuguese side Benfica, Odemwingie scoring in a 1–1 draw.

[18] Shortly after signing for West Bromwich Albion, photographs showed Lokomotiv Moscow fans celebrating the sale of Odemwingie through the use of racist banners targeted at the player.

[21] Odemwingie scored a brace for West Brom on 5 December 2010, as they defeated fellow promoted side Newcastle United 3–1 at the Hawthorns.

[26] On 16 April Odemwingie edged closer to this personal target when he became West Brom's joint top goalscorer ever in a single season in the Premier League with a goal against Chelsea, bringing his tally to 12.

[29] Odemwingie continued his fine form, scoring a lovely curling effort with his left foot in the fifth minute against Tottenham Hotspur.

[32] The result put West Brom on 46 points, bolstering their chances of finishing as the Midlands' highest placed club in the Premier League.

On 18 August it was announced that Odemwingie had signed a new three-year agreement with West Bromwich Albion, after a £4,000,000 bid from Wigan Athletic was turned down by the club.

[33] After some injury setbacks, he scored his first goal of the 2011–12 season away to Norwich City, pouncing on a confusion between Richie De Laet and Declan Rudd.

[34] The result put West Brom up to 13th in the table heading into the busy Christmas period and gave Odemwingie his third league goal of the season.

[39] On 12 February, Odemwingie scored his first Premier League hat-trick for the club in a 5–1 victory over Black Country rival Wolverhampton Wanderers.

[43] On 5 November 2012, Odemwingie scored a brace against Southampton, his second of the season coming from a shot that deflected off Maya Yoshida past Paulo Gazzaniga and his third a headed goal from a Shane Long cross.

[45] Later in the season Odemwingie scored against Aston Villa to make it 2–2 in the 83rd minute after West Brom had been 2 goals down at half-time in an enthralling match.

[46] Odemwingie's future at West Bromwich Albion came under doubt when he launched a tirade against his club on Twitter, in addition to accusing them of "reaching into his pocket", reiterating his wish for a move elsewhere.

[48] He was widely criticised for his actions, with Albion chairman Jeremy Peace saying he acted "unprofessionally", and that he was obligated to see out the rest of his contract.

[80] After struggling for playing time with Stoke in 2015–16, Odemwingie joined Championship side Bristol City on loan in March 2016.

[86] On 29 October, Odemwingie made his debut for Rotherham, coming on as a substitute, replacing Jon Taylor in the 80th minute, in a 2–2 draw against Ipswich Town.

Odemwingie was given a straight red card for a forearm smash in Kenny Jackett's final match as Rotherham manager on 26 November in a 2–1 defeat against Leeds United.

[87] Odemwingie left Rotherham United at the end of his short term contract, informing his manager via text message that he would not be staying at the club.

In 2008, Odemwingie was selected as an over-age player for the Super Eagles' Olympic squad, scoring in the quarter-final against Ivory Coast as the team earned the silver medal[95] after losing the final to defending champions Argentina.

[96] He captained the team for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations,[97] and when Nigeria bowed out of the competition at the semi-final stage, Odemwingie controversially openly criticised coach Shaibu Amodu's tactics, blaming them for the defeat.

[99][100] Odemwingie was selected for the Nigeria squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup,[101] appearing against Argentina and Greece in the Super Eagles' group stage exit.

[106] After appearing as a substitute in the team's opening match against Iran,[107] he was named in the starting line-up for the second group fixture against Bosnia and Herzegovina on 21 June.