Erstwhile Golden Eaglets’ defender, Aliyu Abubakar has penned a two-year deal with Ukrainian side, Olympic Donetsk following his transfer from Belarussian First League FK Slutsk.
A member of the national Under-17 team that won the FIFA U-17 World Cup in 2013 in the UAE, Abubakar has improved greatly since he arrived in Europe in 2014 and had previously featured for Kuopion Pallosura (KuPs) in Finland and FC Dila in Georgia.
“I’m really excited about this move to Olympic Donetsk,” explained the 23-year-old well-built defender. “But I’m grateful to the players and management of my former club in Belarus, FK Slutsk for the opportunity they gave to me while I was with them.”
Abubakar indeed enjoyed some rave reviews at FK Slutsk and was rewarded with the Man of the Match awards a couple of times.
“No doubt, I had great time at Slutsk but I believe I would even get better here at Olympic Donetsk; I stand to learn and develop better here in Ukraine because it’s a very strong league and my coach () was even a former defender during his playing days.”
Abubakar who was offered the contract after a string of good performances in trial matches, was equally full of gratitude to his Russian agent Dimitry Seluk who facilitated his move to Olympic Donetsk.
“I’ve been working with Dimitry Seluk since last year and he was the one who took me to FK Slutsk and I’m happy he has also facilitated big step up for me to Olympic Donetsk; this is another opportunity for me to learn and improve my game, “ noted Abubakar who loves the sobriquet ‘Son of Grace.’