Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan (born 3 November 1996), known as Mu'azzam, is a Nigerian 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 plays 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 ...

for

Liga Portugal 2 The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Pr ...

club

Leixões The Port of Leixões (, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto. Leixões Sport Club, commonly known simply as ''Leixões'', is Matosinh ...

Club career

Early career

Alhassan was born in Kano and grew up supporting Nigerian league giants Kano Pillars. He was a youth player for F.C. Hearts Academy and the Nigerian U-17 and U-20 youth sides. He formed an effective partnership with Kelechi Iheanacho at the U-17 level, was the joint-top-scorer in the U-17 world-cup qualifiers. He went on to successfully represent the Nigerian U-20 team in 2015.

Wikki Tourists

In late 2015, after receiving offers from teams in Belgium, England, Sweden and Croatia, Alhassan suffered an injury after trials at HNK Rijeka. After recovering, and seeking to maintain his fitness, midway through the 2015–16 NPFL season he signed a 6-month deal with the Nigeria Professional Football League side Wikki Tourists. He made his league debut in June 2016 against

Kano Pillars F.C. Kano Pillars Football Club is a Nigerian professional football club based in Kano, northwestern Nigeria. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first-tier division in Nigerian football. They play their home games at Sani Aba ...

in Bauchi. He came on as a second-half substitute to turn the game on its head by scoring two late goals against his hometown club. Already well known as the prodigy dubbed Mu'azzam around his state, the 3–1 upset loss for Pillars did not go down well with the travelling Kano supporters.

Akwa United

At the end of the 2015–16 NPFL season, Alhassan decided to follow mentor-coach Abdu Maikaba from Wikki to

Akwa United F.C. Akwa United Football Club is a Nigerian football club based in Uyo, in Akwa Ibom State. They play in the Nigeria Professional Football League, the first division of Nigerian football. The Godswill Akpabio International Stadium is the club's home ...

as he enjoyed his ongoing development under Maikaba’s tutelage. He immediately became a focal point of his new team's attacks alongside midfield maestro Orji Sylvester Amaechi. Mu'azzam scored his first career hat-trick in April 2017 against Shooting Stars in a 4–2 win in Uyo. He had a total of 10 goals at the halfway point (May 2017) of the season, after which Akwa United negotiated an improved deal with F.C. Heart Academy to make him the highest earning player at the club and joint highest in the league alongside Super Eagles goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa. Mu'azzam provided the assist to Christian Pyagbara's goal in the 0–1 away win against Kano Pillars in a well rounded performance to rouse Kano fans for a second-straight year. He went on to win the April 2017 League Bloggers Awards for Player of the month alongside his mentor-coach Maikaba.

Austria Wien

Alhassan signed on a one-year loan with a three-year extension option with

FK Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (), known in English as Austria Vienna, and Austria Wien in German language in Europe, German-speaking countries, is an Football in Austria, Austrian professional association football club from the capital city of Vi ...

on 25 August 2017.

Nacional

In 2018, Alhassan joined Portuguese club

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

Beerschot

In the summer of 2022, Alhassan signed a two-year contract with

Beerschot Koninklijke Beerschot Voetbalclub Antwerpen (), or simply Beerschot, is a Belgian professional football club located in Antwerp, that competes in the top tier Pro League after promotion from second tier in 2023–24 season. In 2013, KFCO Wil ...

in Belgium.

Return to Portugal

On 4 July 2024, Alhassan returned to Portugal and signed a two-year deal with Boavista. Alhassan left the club on 1 September 2024, as Boavista was unable to lift the ban on registering new players by the end of the transfer window. He subsequently joined

International career

Alhassan has represented Nigerian youth teams at the U-17 and U-20 level. He was part of the

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

at the CAF U-20 Championship 2015. He made four appearances as the Nigerian team went on to win the championship. In May 2017, he was called up to the

Nigeria national football team The Nigeria national football team represents Nigeria in Men's international Association football, football. Governed by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF), they are three-time Africa Cup of Nations (Africa Cup of Nations, AFCON) winners, w ...

Honours

*Player of the Month, NPFL League Bloggers Awards: April 2017

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alhassan, Abdullahi Ibrahim 1996 births Footballers from Kano Living people Nigerian men's footballers Nigeria men's youth international footballers Nigeria men's under-20 international footballers Nigeria men's international footballers Men's association football midfielders Wikki Tourists F.C. players Akwa United F.C. players FK Austria Wien players C.D. Nacional players K Beerschot VA players Boavista F.C. players Leixões S.C. players Nigeria Professional Football League players Austrian Football Bundesliga players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Challenger Pro League players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Austria Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Austria Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen