Ayegbeni achieves Premiership goal
Wednesday, April 30, 2003
Article summary
Maccabi Haifa FC have sold forward Yakuba Ayegbeni to English first division champions Portsmouth FC.
Article body
Goal trail
Ayegbeni joined Portsmouth on loan from the Israeli Premier League club in January after hitting five goals in Haifa's UEFA Champions League campaign. He has subsequently scored seven times for Portsmouth as the south-coast club secured promotion to Premiership.
'Jewel in the crown'
Portsmouth chairman Milan Mandaric said: "I don't need to tell fans about the player's potential - we have a real jewel in the crown." Haifa had been reported in the Israeli media as wanting €6m for the striker but Portsmouth said the fee was lower than that.
Past experience
Still only 20, Ayegbeni previously played for Julius Berger FC in Nigeria, Portuguese side Gil Vicente FC - who loaned him to FC Dynamo Kyiv - and Hapoel Kfar-Saba in Israel.
