Atanda Ayila Yussuf (born 4 November 1984) is a Nigerian 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, rugb ...

who played as a

central defender In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either ...

defensive midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundari ...

. A former Nigerian youth international player, Yussuf moved to

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( uk, "Українська Прем'єр-ліга", ''Ukrayinska Premier Liha'') or UPL is the highest division of Ukrainian annual football championship. As the Vyshcha Liha ( uk, Вища ліга, ''Top League' ...

Dynamo Kyiv from Nigerian side Union Bank in 2003. Despite injuries, Yussuf became a regular for both Dynamo Kyiv and the Nigeria national team. He joined

Metalist Kharkiv Football Club Metalist Kharkiv ( uk, Футбо́льний Клуб Металі́ст Ха́рків ) is a Ukrainian football club based in Kharkiv that plays in the Ukrainian First League during the 2021–22 season. It was revived 5 years ...

on loan in 2014.

Club career

Early career

At 16 years of age, Yussuf signed his first professional contract with Enyimba International he then continued his career with Union Bank his selection in senior teams drew the attention of the youth national team coaches.

Dynamo Kyiv

After drawing interest from clubs like

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

and

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V., commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's football team is currently part of Germany's first division, the Bundesliga. VfB S ...

, Yussuf signed with Dynamo Kyiv in July 2003. On 5 August, he made his debut in the club's reserve team,

FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv was the second football team of the Ukrainian football club Dynamo Kyiv based in Kyiv, Ukraine. The team was created in 1946, and the club ceased its operations after the 2015–16 season. History In 1965, there was create ...

, against FC Polissya Zhytomyr. Less than two months later, on 21 September, Yussef made his senior team debut against

Zirka Kirovohrad FC Zirka Kropyvnytskyi ( uk, ФК "Зірка Кропивницький") is a Ukrainian amateur football club from Kropyvnytskyi, Kirovohrad Oblast, with its team currently playing in the Ukrainian Amateur League. The club traces its history o ...

. A serious knee injury ended his 2003–04 season. On 16 September 2004, he made his first appearance in the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (abbreviated as UCL, or sometimes, UEFA CL) is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) and contested by top-division European clubs, deciding the competi ...

for FC Dynamo Kyiv in a match against

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: Places Australia * Roma, Queensland, a town ** Roma Airport ** Roma Courthouse ** Electoral district of Roma, defunct ** Town of Roma, defunct town, now part of the Maranoa Regional Council * Roma Street, Brisbane, a ...

. Since the second half of the 2011–12 season, Yussuf has struggled to maintain a place in the first team and was loaned to Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), officially known as Spor Toto Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional league for association football clubs. It is the top-flight of the Turkish football league system and is run by the ...

side

Orduspor Orduspor was a Turkish football club founded in 1967. The club was located in Ordu, Turkey and played their home games at 19 Eylül Stadium. The team managed to qualify for the Turkish Super League again in 2011. But, the last spell in top lev ...

on 31 January 2013. After a loan spell in Turkey, he still had not regained a first-team spot and played for the reserve team of Dynamo Kyiv,

Dynamo-2 Kyiv FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv was the second football team of the Ukrainian football club Dynamo Kyiv based in Kyiv, Ukraine. The team was created in 1946, and the club ceased its operations after the 2015–16 season. History In 1965, there was create ...

. On 18 February 2014, he joined league rivals

on a loan deal until the end of the year.

Career statistics

References

External links

Dynamo Kyiv profile
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Yussuf, Ayila 1984 births Living people Sportspeople from Lagos Nigerian Muslims Nigerian footballers Association football midfielders Nigeria international footballers 2006 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 Africa Cup of Nations players 2010 FIFA World Cup players Ukrainian Premier League players Ukrainian First League players Union Bank F.C. players FC Dynamo Kyiv players FC Dynamo-2 Kyiv players FC Metalist Kharkiv players Süper Lig players Orduspor footballers Nigerian expatriate footballers Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Expatriate footballers in Ukraine Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in Turkey