Club career Yakubu Aiyegbeni

1 club career

1.1 career
1.2 maccabi haifa
1.3 portsmouth
1.4 middlesbrough
1.5 everton
1.6 leicester city
1.7 blackburn rovers
1.8 guangzhou r&f
1.9 reading
1.10 kayserispor
1.11 coventry city

club career
early career

yakubu aiyegbeni born in benin city, edo state. powerful central striker, started career julius berger fc in lagos teenager in nigerian premier league. later loaned portuguese club gil vicente.

maccabi haifa

israeli side maccabi haifa paid julius berger $300,000 signature. yakubu s highest scoring season @ haifa 2001–02, when scored 13 times in 22 games (league season 33 matches). came england , trained derby county not obtain work permit @ time. scored 7 goals in 8 european cup appearances in 2002–03 season uefa champions league, (including hat-trick against olympiakos , penalty in 3–0 win on manchester united).

portsmouth

yakubu moved english club portsmouth of first division (now championship) on loan on 6 january 2003. signed harry redknapp, yakubu helped portsmouth win 2002–03 division 1 title, scoring @ rate of 1 goal every 2 games (7 in 14 matches). made debut 57th-minute substitute vincent péricard in 1–1 away match versus brighton & hove albion on 18 january. on 1 february started first time , scored after 4 minutes @ home grimsby town. match ended 3–0 yakubu substituted péricard after 89 minutes. 7 days later, yakubu scored goal in each half of 6–2 victory on derby county first brace in english football. gained second brace of season 2 first-half goals in 5–0 away victory @ millwall on 1 march.

yakubu made loan spell @ portsmouth permanent in may 2003 fee of £4 million. played 37 of portsmouth s 38 premier league matches in 2003–04, starting two. yakubu s 16 goals made him club s leading goal-scorer, , joint-sixth highest scorer in entire league.

yakubu scored first premier league goal in second match, opening 1–1 draw versus manchester city on 23 august 2003. after 8 consecutive league matches without goal, scored brace in league cup match away nottingham forest on 29 october, 1 of in time of 4–2 win. yakubu scored final goal of 6–1 home win on leeds united on 8 november. on 3 january 2004, scored 89th-minute winner in fa cup third round match @ home blackpool. 3 days later scored equaliser in premier league portsmouth lost 2–1 away aston villa. on 10 january scored first premier league brace 2 goals in second half of 4–2 home win on manchester city. played @ 2004 african cup of nations.

yakubu ended season 11 goals in last 10 premier league matches, starting 1 each in 4 straight games, first being goal in south coast derby versus southampton on 21 march. followed late winner against blackburn rovers in 2–1 away victory, , equaliser away charlton athletic. on final day of season, scored 4 goals portsmouth defeated middlesbrough 5–1.

in 2004–05 season scored 13 goals. final goal portsmouth in may 2005 before left club – equaliser in 1–1 home draw bolton wanderers in penulitimate league game of season – goal ensured portsmouth not relegated premiership in 2004–05 season.

yakubu s 28 premier league goals between 2 seasons make him portsmouth s highest ever scorer in premier league, 9 more second-highest scorer benjani mwaruwari.

middlesbrough

yakubu in action middlesbrough, 2006

after 2004–05 season, transferred portsmouth middlesbrough £7.5 million record fee, highest nigerian ever. yakubu scored goal of game penalty in first leg of uefa cup last 16 round @ home against roma, giving middlesbrough 1–0 victory, later went through on away goals. performances rewarded, helped middlesbrough reach 2006 uefa cup final against sevilla, in lost 4–0.

his transfer portsmouth middlesbrough in july 2005 1 of stevens inquiry report in june 2007 expressed concerns because of lack of co-operation agents pinhas zahavi , barry silkman.

everton

yakubu transferred everton in august 2007 fee of £11.25 million on five-year deal, @ time club had ever paid player. shunning traditional centre-forwards number 9, yakubu asked assigned number 22, setting number goal-scoring target first season, feat fell 1 goal short of achieving. scored 11 minutes debut club, first goal in 2–1 win against bolton wanderers @ reebok stadium in september 2007. first hat-trick club came against fulham in 3–0 home league win in december 2007. yakubu travelled ghana in 2008 compete in cup of nations. following nigeria s exit competition, late in returning club, , result dropped manager david moyes once in england. double against newcastle united in 3–1 win @ goodison park on last day of 2007–08 season helped toffees clinch fifth place , place in 2008–09 uefa cup competition. finished first season 15 premier league goals name, , 21 goals in competitions everton. yakubu achieved highest goal tally single season, , became first everton player since peter beardsley net 20 goals in season.

yakubu scored 100th goal in english football in league game @ west bromwich albion in premier league 2008–09 season. scored goal against standard liège in uefa cup , got on scoresheet goal against middlesbrough, first goal in 10 games. ruptured achilles tendon in 1–0 away win @ tottenham hotspur on 30 november, ruling him out rest of season. yakubu played first competitive game after achilles tendon injury against burnley reserves, , in first start first team in year, scored within 11 minutes against hull city in league cup. came on jô in first-half injury time , scored equaliser first touch bring everton level @ stamford bridge against chelsea. later scored winning goal against stoke.

leicester city

yakubu playing leicester city in 2011

yakubu joined leicester city on loan until end of season on 13 january 2011, possibility of permanent deal. made debut , scored in 1–1 draw against preston north end on 15 january 2011, followed goal in 4–2 win on millwall on 22 january.

on 12 february 2011 scored left footed volley in 2–0 win on local rivals derby county. on 2 april 2011, scored first hat-trick against former club middlesbrough. scored double in leicester s 4–2 win on watford.

blackburn rovers

on 31 august 2011, yakubu signed three-year deal blackburn rovers undisclosed fee , assigned number 24 shirt manager steve kean. scored first , second goals blackburn rovers on 17 september on premier league debut against arsenal in blackburn won 4–3. voted man of match helped blackburn first win of season, blackburn fans chanting feed yak , score! time final whistle blew. scored third goal in league in 3–3 away draw against norwich city. yakubu s fourth , fifth goals of league season came in away 3–3 draw @ wigan athletic on 19 november 2011. opened scoring long range after 65 seconds , equalised injury-time penalty. had earlier been behind incident when blackburn 2–1 down, dummying short corner allow team-mate morten gamst pedersen dribble ball corner , cross junior hoilett equalise game 2–2. @ end of game, yakubu admitted did not touch ball , goal should not have stood.

on 3 december 2011, yakubu scored 4 goals blackburn in 4–2 home win on swansea city. scored 2 in each half, finishing penalty. first blackburn hat-trick , first four-goal game since last day of 2003–04 season, portsmouth against middlesbrough. scored 2 goals, 1 being penalty, in side s shock 2–3 victory against manchester united @ old trafford on 31 december 2011 left him on 13 goals season in competitions. on 15 january 2012, in match against fulham, yakubu sent off first time in premier league straight red. on return suspension, scored against qpr. on 10 april 2012, yakubu scored twice, while missing 1 penalty , scoring second, in blackburn s 2–3 loss @ home liverpool. in first season @ blackburn, scored 18 goals, club relegated championship end of season after 1–0 home loss in-form wigan athletic. after relegation confirmed, yakubu stated did not want play championship football , wanted leave blackburn.

guangzhou r&f

yakubu confirmed on 28 june 2012 had left blackburn , had signed chinese side guangzhou r&f, on initial three-year deal. on 15 july, yakubu made chinese super league debut in guangzhou derby match guangzhou r&f played against guangzhou evergrande @ tianhe stadium. scored winning goal of match in 87th minute, ending guangzhou evergrande s 34-league-home-match unbeaten run.

reading

on 2 february 2015, reading signed free agent yakubu on contract until end of 2014–15 season. on 14 february, yakubu scored first goal royals winner in 2–1 defeat of derby county @ pride park put club quarter-finals of fa cup. yakubu released reading on 21 may 2015.

kayserispor

on 31 august 2015, yakubu signed one-year contract, option of additional year, süper lig side kayserispor.

coventry city

on 13 february 2017, yakubu signed coventry city until end of 2016–17. on 5 april 2017, having featured 3 times due suffering hamstring injury, yakubu s coventry city contract terminated mutual consent. announced retirement football on 22 november 2017.