Najeeb Yakubu
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | 1 May 2000 | ||
| Place of birth | Accra, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Right-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Garudayaksa | ||
| Youth career | |||
| UniStar Academy | |||
| –2017 | New Town Youth | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | Niger Tornadoes | ||
| 2018–2024 | Vorskla Poltava | 66 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Ilves (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| 2024–2025 | Prishtina | 17 | (0) |
| 2025–2026 | Persijap Jepara | 22 | (0) |
| 2026– | Garudayaksa | 0 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Ghana U17 | 9 | (0) |
| 2022– | Niger | 17 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 May 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 12 October 2025 | |||
Najeeb Yakubu (ⓘ; born 1 May 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Super League club Garudayaksa. Born in Ghana, he plays for the Niger national team.
Club career
On 20 April 2022, Yakubu joined CD Lugo in Spain under the special FIFA regulations related to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, he only participated in training and did not appear in any league games.[2][3]
In August 2022 he once again suspended his contract with Vorskla under the same regulations, this time until 30 June 2023, and moved to Ilves in Finnish Veikkausliiga.[4][5]
International career
Born in Ghana, Yakubu is of Nigerien descent.
He was called up to the Niger national team for a set of friendlies in March 2022.[6] He debuted with Niger as a late substitute in a 3–0 friendly loss to Egypt on 23 September 2022.[7]
Career statistics
Club
| Club | Season | League | Cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vorskla Poltava | 2018–19 | Ukrainian Premier League | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2[b] | 0 | – | 6 | 1 | |
| 2019–20 | Ukrainian Premier League | 13 | 1 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | Ukrainian Premier League | 19 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | Ukrainian Premier League | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | – | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23 | Ukrainian Premier League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2023–24 | Ukrainian Premier League | 13 | 0 | 2 | 0 | – | – | 15 | 0 | |||
| Total | 66 | 2 | 8 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 78 | 2 | ||
| Ilves (loan) | 2022 | Veikkausliiga | 8 | 0 | – | – | – | 8 | 0 | |||
| 2023 | Veikkausliiga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | 1[d] | 0 | 11 | 0 | ||
| Total | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 19 | 0 | ||
| Prishtina | 2024–25 | Kosovo Superleague | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 17 | 0 | ||
| Persijap Jepara | 2025–26 | Super League | 22 | 0 | – | – | – | 22 | 0 | |||
| Garudayaksa | 2026–27 | Super League | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | – | 0 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 122 | 2 | 9 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 136 | 2 | ||
- Notes
- ↑ Includes Ukrainian Cup and Suomen Cup
- ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Europa League
- ↑ Appearances in the UEFA Europa Conference League
- ↑ Includes Finnish League Cup
International
- As of match played 18 November 2024[10]
| Niger | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals | |
| 2022 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 6 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | |
Honours
Ilves
External links
- Najeeb Yakubu at UAF (in Ukrainian)
- Najeeb Yakubu at Soccerway
References
- ↑ "Najeeb Yakubu". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
- ↑ "FIFA adopts temporary employment and registration rules to address several issues in relation to war in Ukraine". FIFA. 7 March 2022.
- ↑ "Najeeb Yakubu se incorpora a la dinámica de trabajo del primer equipo" (Press release) (in Spanish). CD Lugo. 20 April 2022. Retrieved 2 May 2022.
- ↑ "Колись хотів грати за збірну України: лідер "Ворскли" пішов з команди". sportyvka.com.ua. Archived from the original on 21 August 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
- ↑ "MONIPUOLINEN NAJEEB YAKUBU KELTAVIHREISIIN – "MINULLA ON KOKEMUSTA EUROPELEISTÄ"" (in Finnish). Ilves. 20 August 2022. Archived from the original on 25 August 2022. Retrieved 25 August 2022.
- ↑ "EXCLUSIVE: Former Ghana U17 defender Najeeb Yakubu gets Niger national team invitation". GhanaSoccernet. 17 March 2022.
- ↑ "%competition_name% (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports.
- ↑ Najeeb Yakubu at Soccerway. Retrieved 28 November 2018.
- ↑ Najeeb Yakubu, Global Sports Archive
- ↑ Najeeb Yakubu at National-Football-Teams.com
Categories:
- 2000 births
- Living people
- Naturalized citizens of Niger
- Nigerien men's footballers
- Men's association football full-backs
- Niger Tornadoes F.C. players
- FC Vorskla Poltava players
- CD Lugo players
- Ilves (football) players
- FC Prishtina players
- Persijap Jepara players
- Garudayaksa F.C. players
- Ukrainian Premier League players
- Veikkausliiga players
- Football Superleague of Kosovo players
- Super League (Indonesia) players
- Niger men's international footballers
- Nigerien expatriate men's footballers
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria
- Expatriate men's footballers in Nigeria
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine
- Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Expatriate men's footballers in Spain
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Finland
- Expatriate men's footballers in Finland
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo
- Expatriate men's footballers in Kosovo
- Nigerien expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia
- Expatriate men's footballers in Indonesia
- Footballers from Accra
- Ghanaian men's footballers
- Ghana men's youth international footballers
- Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Nigeria
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Spain
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Finland
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Kosovo
- Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Indonesia
- Ghanaian people of Nigerien descent
- 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen
- Footballers at the 2019 African Games