Najeeb Yakubu (born 1 May 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a right back for Ukrainian Premier League side FC Vorskla Poltava. Born in Ghana, he plays for the Niger national team.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Date of birth | (2000-05-01) 1 May 2000 (age 24) | ||
| Place of birth | Accra, Ghana | ||
| Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Right back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Vorskla Poltava | ||
| Number | 25 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| UniStar Academy | |||
| 0000–2017 | New Town Youth | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2018 | Niger Tornadoes | ? | (?) |
| 2018– | Vorskla Poltava | 66 | (2) |
| 2022–2023 | → Ilves (loan) | 17 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Ghana U17 | 9 | (0) |
| 2022– | Niger | 9 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 June 2024 | |||
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.[1][2]
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.[3][4]
Born in Ghana, Yakubu is of Nigerien descent.
He has expressed interest in playing for the Ukraine national team.[5]
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]
| 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 | ||
| Career total | 53 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 63 | 2 | ||
