Aiyegbeni

he was forgiven,” Yakubull had said then.

On how he was able to play for so long, Aiyegbeni said: “I believe in longevity as far as the game of football is concerned and I have a lot of players I looked up to that played for longer years, so, I played as far as my bones could carry me.”

In 2008, former Everton Coach, David Moyes caused a stir when he questioned the true age of Ayegbeni and of Nigerian players in general, when he said, "He's only 25, albeit a Nigerian 25, and so if that is his age he's still got a good few years ahead of him."

The Nigeria Football Association (as the country’s football body was known then) wrote to the English FA asking for Everton manager to be sanctioned.

It is a well-known story in football circle how Osaze Odemwinge’s father, who was the doctor of Bendel Insurance while Aiyegbeni was at the club, will take young Osaze to watch Aiyegbeni and teammates train at the Ogbe Stadium.

It, however, remains a mystery that while both of them were in the Super Eagles team to the 2014 edition of the Africa Cup of Nation, Aiyegbeni was the younger of the two.

Starting his professional career on the local scene with Julius Berger FC of Lagos in 1997, the Yak moved to Maccabi Haifa in 1998 and it was here his reputation for scoring goals came to the fore as he registered 24 league goals in 49 appearances for the Israeli outfit.

Aiyegbeni made a bigger name for himself during the 2002/2003 Uefa Champions League season where he banged in a hat-trick in a 3-0 triumph over Olympiakos, and also scored from the spot in another 3-0 victory over heavyweights Manchester United.

Portsmouth took him on loan in January 2003 and he was an instant hit, scoring seven goals in 13 games as Pompey gained promotion to the Premier League.

His move was made permanent that summer and the Nigerian would go on to become a household name in the English top flight. Over the course of spells with Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton and Blackburn Rovers, Aiyegbeni scored 96 Premier League goals, the second highest African after Didier Drogba's 104 strikes.

He scored a total of 119 goals in English football, playing for seven different clubs.

Aside from his successful stint in England, Yakubu plied his trade in the Chinese Super League with Guangzhou R&F FC between 2012 and 2013, scoring 24 goals in 43 appearances. Some of his less successful spells came with Qatari club Al-Rayyan and Turkish Super Lig side Kayserispor, but at this stage, his prolific career was coming to an end.