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13th Feb 2017

Premier League legend Yakubu is back in English football at the age of 34

Return of the Yak.

Tom Victor

Some 14 years after playing his first minutes in English football Yakubu Aiyegbeni is returning to the Football League.

The Nigerian international, who joined Portsmouth in January 2003, had been without a club ever since leaving Turkish club Kayserispor last summer.

After playing for Pompey in their promotion season and signing a permanent deal with them in the Premier League, he enjoyed fruitful spells with Middlesbrough, Everton, Leicester City and Blackburn Rovers, plus a slightly less fruitful spell with Reading after stints in China and Qatar.

But now he has a very different challenge ahead of him – a League 1 relegation battle with new club Coventry City.

The 34-year-old, who played Champions League football with Maccabi Haifa early in his career, has joined on a short-term deal until the end of the season.

Coventry are currently bottom of the League 1 table, 10 points adrift of safety, having scored just 25 goals in their 30 games so far.

Top scorer Marvin Sordell has just four league goals to his name this season, the same as Dan Agyei and Marcus Tudgay, so the Nigerian international could be a welcome addition if he is able to reach match sharpness after several months out of the game.

Catch up with this week’s episode of 888sport Football Friday Live