Vitesse land Abubakari Yakubu on permanent deal
15 April: Abubakari Yakubu will stay at Vitesse, the
club he was loaned out to by Ajax at the start of this season.
The Arnhem Eredivisie outfit signed the Ajacied (23) on a
permanent four-year contract today. The reported transfer fee
for the Ghanese midfielder, who played 65 Eredivisie games
for Ajax is 750,000 euros.
Vitesse are in financial trouble and effectively under legal
restraint of the Arnhem city council. The club could not have
afforded the transfer without the help of external financiers
and a fundraiser by the 'Friends of Vitesse' supporters club.
PSV, AZ and Olympique Lyon were reportedly also interested in
the Ghanese midfielder's services, but when Yakubu first joined
Vitesse on a loan deal on
13 July 2004 an option for Vitesse to land the player
permanently was included in the deal.
Abubakari Yakubu (born Tema, Ghana, 18 December
1981) was scouted by Ajax in Ghana in December
1999 and made his first team début for the Amsterdammers
on 19 April 2000 in the Eredivisie away game at FC Den Bosch.
Yakubu had his best season for Ajax in 2001-2002: he
saw action in 25 league games and won the 'double'. In
total he had 88 official appearances for Ajax: 65 in the
Eredivisie, 19 in UEFA competition (including 11 Champions
League matches) and four in domestic cup games. His last
appearance for Ajax was the 16 May 2004 Eredivisie away game at
Willem II.
Yakubu is the second Ajax player contracted by Vitesse this
week. A few days ago the Arnhem club also signed Young Ajax
left winger Etienne Esajas, whose contract expired at
season's end. Ajax reportedly offered him a one year extension,
but the 20 year-old forward was reportedly unhappy with the new
offer and opted for a move. (MP)
Sources: VI.nl, Vitesse.nl, de Volkskrant
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