Ibrahim Mahama Atiku (born 20 May 1986) is a Ghanaian former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who played as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

Club career

Atiku was a member of a Ghana U17 squad that also featured

Michael Essien Michael Kojo Essien (born 3 December 1982) is a Ghanaian Association football, football coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach at Danish Superliga club FC Nordsjælland, Nordsjælland. During his prime he was regarded as on ...

, and after their performances at the

1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship The 1999 FIFA U-17 World Championship, the eighth edition of the tournament, was held in the cities of Auckland, Christchurch, Napier, and Dunedin in New Zealand from 10 to 27 November 1999. Players born after 1 January 1982 could participate in ...

, they went on trial with English club

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in April 2000. Both players were offered contracts by the club, but they were unable to obtain work permits, and the move fell through. Atiku ended up joining

Liberty Professionals Liberty Professionals Football Club is a Ghanaian professional football club based in Dansoman, Accra. History Liberty Professionals was founded in 1996 by Accra-based businessmen Felix Ansong and Alhaji Sly Tetteh. The club was one of the earli ...

in 2000, and in 2001 he made his first transfer away from Ghana as he was taken on loan by Israeli club

Hapoel Petah Tikva Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. () is an Israeli professional football club based in the city of Petah Tikva, currently playing in Israeli Premier League. Its most successful period was throughout the 1950s and 1960s, in which the club won six League C ...

. until the end of that season and played one game in the

UEFA Intertoto Cup The UEFA Intertoto Cup (from , "between" and , " betting pool"),Most precisely, from ( football pool); cf. originally called the International Football Cup, was a summer football competition between European clubs. The competition was dis ...

with Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan. His loan ended and returned to Liberty, but his performances had already attracted Swedish club

Västerås Västerås () is a city in central Sweden on the shore of Mälaren, Lake Mälaren in the province of Västmanland, west of Stockholm. The city had a population of 127,799 at the end of 2019, out of the municipal total of 158,653, over 100,000 mo ...

which signed him in 2003. His next move was to Friska Viljor in 2005, and later played with Assyriska for first time in his career to

Allsvenskan Allsvenskan (; ), also known as Fotbollsallsvenskan (, ) is a professional association football league in Sweden and the highest level of the Swedish football league system. Founded in 1924, it operates on a system of promotion and relegatio ...

League, where he had two full seasons with 48 caps and was considered a key-member of the squad. In April 2007, Atiku decided to separate parts and signed a six-month loan deal with rivals Assyriska at

Superettan Superettan (; ) is an association football league and the second highest league in the Swedish football league system, league system of Swedish football, Swedish men's football. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and rel ...

club

IF Sylvia IF Sylvia is a Swedish football club based in Norrköping. The club, formed on 19 May 1922, plays in the fourth tier of Swedish football, Division 2. The club is affiliated to the Östergötlands Fotbollförbund. In the early years, the club wa ...

. It was reported that

Botev Plovdiv Profesionalen Futbolen Klub Botev AD, commonly referred to as Botev Plovdiv (, ), or simply Botev (within its associated city), is a Bulgarian professional Association football, football club based in Plovdiv. It competes in the First Professiona ...

were interested in signing him and that Cypriot club

APEP Apophis (; ), also known as Apep () or Aphoph (, ) Erman, Adolf, and Hermann Grapow, eds. 1926–1953. ''Wörterbuch der aegyptischen Sprache im Auftrage der deutschen Akademien''. 6 vols. Leipzig: J. C. Hinrichs'schen Buchhandlungen. (Re ...

had offered him a three-year deal contract that he refused in order to take a chance with

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the Scottish football league system, top-level league competition for professional Association football, football clubs in Scotland. The league was founded in 1998, when it broke away from the Scottish Foo ...

side

Inverness Caledonian Thistle Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club, commonly known as Caley Thistle, Inverness CT or just Inverness, is a professional football club based in Inverness, Scotland. The team competes in , the third tier of the Scottish Professional Footba ...

. However, this move fell through and finally on 7 January 2009, Atiku joined Vasalund on a two-year contract. Searching for a way to leave Sweden after many years of services, it was then that Greek historical club

Ethnikos Piraeus Ethnikos Piraeus (Greek: Εθνικός Πειραιώς) is a Greek multisport club based in Piraeus. It was founded in 1923. The full name of the club is Ethnikos Omilos Filathlon Pireos/Phalirou or Ethnikos OFPF (Greek: Εθνικός Όμι� ...

signed Atiku on a two-year deal in order to help them win promotion to

Superleague Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repl ...

and went very close on this but financial problems bankrupted the club at the end of the season. Greek courts decided Ethnikos should pay €28,000 to Atiku due to his contract regulations but this decision failed to come through as the club went from professional to amateur and all its debts were erased. On 28 June 2011, Atiku joined English club

Swindon Town Swindon Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Swindon, Wiltshire, England. The team, known as the "Robins", currently compete in , the fourth level of the English football league system. Founded as Swindon A ...

on trial. Following full preseason and played in all friendly games before the league season started, he signed a two-year contract with the club on 11 July 2011. Following his move, Atiku stated his intention to "grasp this chance and see where it takes to his next career" and was given the number 16 shirt for Swindon Town. However, his first team opportunities at the club quickly became limited after failing to break into the first team, due to strong competitions and appeared only for the reserve team. This led to manager Paulo Di Canio planning to loan him out to get first team experience, but he refused to join Newport Country on loan. On 28 October 2011, Swindon Town cancelled his contract at The County Ground by mutual consent, with Atiku making a statement that he has no regrets after his Swindon exit.

International career

In 1999, Atiku represented the Ghana under-17 team at

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

and later was part of the Ghana under-20 side at the

2001 FIFA World Youth Championship The 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship took place in Argentina between 17 June and 8 July 2001. The 2001 championship was the 13th contested. The tournament took part in six cities, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, Mendoza, Rosario, Salta, and Mar del ...

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

. In 2010, Atiku participated in training with the Ghana senior team but eventually was not invited to play any official games. He was later called up to the squad to play Nigeria in August 2011, but the match was called off due to the rioting in England.

Personal life

Atiku has held a Swedish passport since 13 May 2009.

References

External links

*
Ghana U-17 SquadMove to Vasteras

IF Sylvia loanSigns for Ethnikos PiraeusPaolo Di Canio offers him Swindon contract
{{DEFAULTSORT:Atiku, Ibrahim 1983 births Living people Ghanaian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders Ghana men's international footballers Olympic footballers for Ghana Footballers at the 2004 Summer Olympics Liberty Professionals F.C. players Hapoel Petah Tikva F.C. players Hakoah Amidar Ramat Gan F.C. players Västerås SK Fotboll players Assyriska FF players IF Sylvia players Vasalunds IF players Ethnikos Piraeus F.C. players Swindon Town F.C. players Allsvenskan players Superettan players Ghanaian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Sweden Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Sweden Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Ghanaian expatriate sportspeople in Greece 21st-century Ghanaian sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England