Alhassan Yusuf: Guaranteed Future with Super Eagles

He has shown high level of consistency since his time in Sweden where he won several awards including IFK Goteborg Young Player of the Year in 2020 before he was snapped by Royal Antwerp. With five goals so far for the Belgian powerhouse- an impressive record for a defensive midfielder, Alhassan Yusuf has been knocking the door for a place in the Super Eagles. Little wonder Augustin Eguavoen said, “He has that quality I want”and assured he would hand the Royal Antwerp midfielder a call-up in future

Alhassan Yusuf performance so far with Royal Antwerp had not gone unnoticed and he has turned to a golden fish with no hiding place. It is no surprise therefore that several top European clubs are on his trail with even his country’s senior national side a no exception.

Nigeria’s caretaker coach Augustine Eguavoen has indeed assured that he will hand a national team call-up to the midfielder who molds his game after that of France’s N’Golo Kante in the near future.

The 2019 Allsvenskan Newcomer of the Year is knocking on the Super Eagles door after his impressive start to life in Belgium with Royal Antwerp, for whom he has made appearances in the Europa League, Jupiler Pro League and Beker van Belgie.

In 30 outings across all competitions, Yusuf has directly participated in five goals, not bad for a player who is actually a defensive-minded midfielder.

Eguavoen’s trusted associate based in Belgium brought back glowing reports about Yusuf after running the rule over the former IFK Goteborg wonderkid.

“We are closely looking at everyone and there’s a player also in Antwerp. Belgium is my home as well,” Eguavoen told Elegbete TV Sports.

“There’s a midfielder in Antwerp, I’ve told people to help me check him out as well and get his contact, I only saw him on TV.

“I have to travel to Antwerp when the time is right. Because of the quality I said I’m looking for, one of my friends Mark, he’s a Belgium citizen, has helped me check the boy out, so the boy has that quality that I said I want.”

Yusuf has not been capped by Nigeria at any level but was on the radar of the Flying Eagles coaching staff before the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

If reports making the rounds are anything to go by, Yusuf may next season be plying his trade either in the English Premier League or in the Scottish elite division after Rangers and Brentford had made enquiries about the Nigerian midfielder.

Rangers have been spot-on with their scouting in recent years. The Scottish giants are however not alone in the hunt for the defensive midfielder with Brentford set to rival the Bears to secure his services.

The young Nigerian who joined the Swedish side back in 2018 before moving to Antwerp in the summer has been regular in the middle of the park and is drawing attention for his all-around ability despite being only 22 years old.

The likes of Wolves, Sheffield United and Club Brugge are also keeping close tabs on Yusuf.

Yusuf is comfortable with the ball at his feet and loves to burst forward from the deep to operate in the advanced areas of the pitch. He can feature as a deep-lying playmaker, thanks to his exquisite pressing and intercepting skills.

He can also slot in as a box-to-box player with swift movements and off the ball work rate, coupled with his down the middle runs.

Born in 2000, Kano,  the path to European football is not an immediately obvious one. In the central north of the country, the city has long been documented as a site of Christian and Muslim co-habitance. Not always a peaceful one either.

Yusuf’s recollection of playing football in his native country is largely a positive one.

‘It was fun, but tough. Especially when playing against the older players.’

This image of a young Yusuf battling against bigger opposition, is now not an uncommon one. At 5’7 he is rarely anything other than the shortest player in the centre of the park. Rather than be overburdened by a height disadvantage however, Yusuf has learned to use it to his advantage.

Yusuf was spotted by the Tiki Taka Development Group as a youngster in Nigeria. The Swedish-based academy set up a Nigerian wing of their operation in the last decade. Working with grassroots clubs and players, the academy’s aim was to provide coaching infrastructure for young Nigerians to forge a career in European football.