Yakubu Ayegbeni (born 22 November 1982), known as Yakubu, is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a striker. His nickname is "The Yak".
His performances in the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League for Maccabi Haifa earned a loan move to English club Portsmouth which became permanent as they were promoted to the Premier League in 2003. He has since appeared in over 250 Premier League matches for Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn Rovers, and is the fourth highest African goalscorer in Premier League history with 96 goals. He is the third highest scorer in the history of the Nigeria national football team, and represented them at four African Cup of Nations finals, the 2010 FIFA World Cup and the 2000 Summer Olympic.
Club career
Early career
Yakubu was born in Benin City, Edo State. He started his career with Julius Berger in Lagos as a teenager in the Nigerian Premier League. He was later loaned to Portuguese club Gil Vicente.
Maccabi Haifa
Israeli side Maccabi Haifa paid Julius Berger $300,000 for his signature. Yakubu's highest scoring season at Haifa was 2001–02, when he scored 13 times in 22 games (League season was 33 matches). He came to England and trained with Derby County but could not obtain a work permit at the time. He scored seven goals in eight European Cup appearances in the 2002–03 season UEFA Champions League, (including a hat-trick against Olympiakos and a penalty in the 3–0 win over Manchester United).
Portsmouth
Yakubu moved to English club Portsmouth of the First Division (now the Championship) on loan on 6 January 2003. Signed by Harry Redknapp, Yakubu helped Portsmouth win the 2002–03 First Division title, scoring at a rate of one goal in every two games (7 in 14 matches). He made his debut as a 57th-minute substitute for Vincent Péricard in a 1–1 away match versus Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 January. On 1 February he started for the first time and scored after 4 minutes at home to Grimsby Town. The match ended 3–0 with Yakubu substituted for Péricard after 89 minutes. Seven days later, Yakubu scored a goal in each half of a 6–2 victory over Derby County for his first brace in English football. He gained his second brace of the season with two first-half goals in a 5–0 away victory at Millwall on 1 March.
Yakubu made his loan spell at Portsmouth permanent in May 2003 for a fee of £4 million. He played 37 of Portsmouth's 38 Premier League matches in 2003–04, starting all but two. Yakubu's 16 goals made him the club's leading goal-scorer, and joint-sixth highest scorer in the entire league.
Yakubu scored his first Premier League goal in his second match, opening a 1–1 draw versus Manchester City on 23 August 2003. After eight consecutive league matches without a goal, he scored a brace in a League Cup match away to Nottingham Forest on 29 October, one of which was in extra time of the 4–2 win. Yakubu scored the final goal of a 6–1 home win over Leeds United on 8 November. On 3 January 2004, he scored an 89th-minute winner in the FA Cup third round match at home to Blackpool. Three days later he scored an equaliser in the Premier League as Portsmouth lost 2–1 away to Aston Villa. On 10 January he scored his first Premier League brace with two goals in the second half of a 4–2 home win over Manchester City. He played at the 2004 African Cup of Nations.
Yakubu ended the season with 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League matches, starting with one each in four straight games, the first being the only goal in the South Coast derby versus Southampton on 21 March. This was followed by a late winner against Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 away victory, and an equaliser away to Charlton Athletic. On the final day of the season, he scored four goals as Portsmouth defeated Middlesbrough 5–1.
In the 2004–05 season he scored 13 goals. His final goal for Portsmouth in May 2005 before he left the club – the equaliser in a 1–1 home draw to Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate league game of the season – was the goal that ensured Portsmouth would not be relegated from Premiership in the 2004–05 season.
Yakubu's 28 Premier League goals between his two seasons make him Portsmouth's highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than their second-highest scorer Benjani Mwaruwari.