One to Watch – Yakubu

Nigerian striker Yakubu has been pinpointed by Vital QPR as the One to Watch as QPR welcome Leicester City to Loftus Road on Saturday.

Name: Yakubu Aiyegbeni

Date of Birth: 22/11/1982

Former Clubs: Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Kfar Saba, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton

Appearances (Goals): 313 (131)

Yakubu has been one of many new faces to join the Sven revolution at The Walkers Stadium and he will be determined to help Leicester continue their onslaught towards the playoffs by taking maximum points at Loftus Road. Primarily a Premiership striker, ‘The Yak` will certainly cause the Rs defence a few problems with his strength, power and goalscoring abilities.

Yakubu started his initial career in Israel with Maccabi Haifa, winning two championships and displaying an impressive goalscoring record. He managed a goal nearly ever two league games with the Israeli Premier League side and after scoring seven goals in eight European Cup appearances in the 2002/2003 season he moved to English side Portsmouth, initially on loan for a fee of £400k.

He soon helped Portsmouth secure promotion to the Premier League and he eventually signed on a permanent deal for £4 million. He soon proved his goalscoring credentials at the highest level as he scored 29 Premier League goals in just 68 games during his time spent on the South Coast.

He attracted interest from many Premier League clubs and he eventually signed for Middlesbrough in 2005 for a £7.5 million fee. He continued to dominate defences and ended the season as the club`s top goalscorer with 19 league and cup goals. He formed a formidable partnership with Mark Viduka and helped spearhead Boro into the UEFA Cup final in 2006.

Yakubu spent two years at The Riverside before moving to Everton in August 2009 for a fee of £11.25 million on a five year deal. His Everton career got off to a flying start when he scored on his debut against Bolton Wanderers and he remained a constant scoring threat throughout the season, notching a career best 21 goals. The Nigerian scored his 100th goal in English football in a league game at WBA in the 2008/2009 season.

In January 2011 after struggling to hold down a first team place Yakubu moved to Championship club Leicester City on loan until the end of the season with a view to a permanent move. He has already managed four league goals in seven appearances for The Foxes and will be looking to net against a Rangers side hoping to push on from an impressive February.