AFCON 2025
Former Blackburn and Everton striker Yakubu Aiyegbeni believes today’s transfer market would value him far higher than anything he earned during his Premier League playing days. The former Everton and Middlesbrough striker declared, “If I was playing football in this era, my market value would be €150 million,” a figure he says reflects both his goal output and the inflated nature of modern football economics.
The Yak backed up his claim with hard numbers. “I was averaging 15 goals per season,” he said, pointing to his prolific scoring record during his prime years in England. It’s a tally that, if sustained across a modern nine-figure market, would easily justify the price tag he’s putting on himself. Yakubu Aiyegbeni made these claims in a recent podcast.
The former Super Eagles of Nigeria forward also used the moment to remind fans of a record that still stands untouched. “I’m the Nigerian player with the most Premier League goals — 95,” he declared, a tally amassed across nine seasons and four different clubs.
That number tells its own story club by club. Yakubu built the foundation at Portsmouth, where he scored 29 goals in 67 appearances, the most he managed for any single side. He carried that form to Middlesbrough, netting 25 goals in 71 Premier League outings and helping the club reach the 2006 UEFA Cup final.
His move to Everton for a club-record €16.6 million fee in 2007 opened a four-season spell at Goodison Park, where he remained one of the Toffees’ most reliable finishers in front of goal. He closed out his English top-flight career at Blackburn Rovers, where in his final season alone he struck 18 goals in just 33 appearances, still nearly a goal every other game as the Championship loomed.
Whether or not €150 million is the right number, Yakubu Aiyegbeni’s spells across Portsmouth, Middlesbrough, Everton, and Blackburn continues to anchor his place among Nigeria’s greatest football exports.
