Former Flying Eagles striker Mohammed Tijani has signed a five-year contract with Slavia Praha as a direct replacement for fellow Nigeria star Peter Olayinka.
Olayinka has quit Slavia Praha for Serbia.
Tijani, 22, said he hopes to be as successful as Olayinka was at the top Czech club.
“Olayinka was certainly an inspiration not only to me but to other footballers from Nigeria. I would like to be as successful as he was one day,” he said.
“I’m excited, I like challenges. Transferring to Slavia is exactly the kind of challenge I wanted. I’m looking forward to the European matches, to the fans.
“I would like to be the top scorer in the league one day. I know Igoh from the youth team, he has a special place in my heart.”
Slavia sports director Jiri Bilek said they hope their newly acquired striker continues to develop.
“We got a fit, powerful, productive striker. He had a fantastic spring, but we have watched him for a long time,” he said.
“We believe that he will make further progress in our team, he is still only 22 years old.
“He knows Igoh (Ogbu), who will help him settle down.
“I’m keeping my fingers crossed for him that everything goes to plan.”
Tijani started out at Nigerian club 36 Lion, who also produced Olayinka, Yira Sor and Moses Usor.
He has been at Baník Ostrava since September 2018. In the summer of 2019, he went on loan to the second division Třinec, he made his debut in the top competition on June 3, 2020 for Karvina against Slovácko.
He got his first league chance in Baník in the 2020/21 season, playing in eleven matches. He also scored his first league goal in September 2020 against Pardubice.
In the summer of 2021, he moved to the second division Táborsk on a one-year loan, finally hitting the jackpot. He became the key man in the lineup, scoring nine goals and adding two assists in 28 games. And he reported back to Baník for pre-season training.
This year, the 191-centimeter-tall striker played in 32 matches, scoring eleven times. He
scored eight goals in the final phase of the year, when Baník was fighting to avoid the play-offs.
He scored twice against Plzeň and Pardubice, scored a hat-trick in Olomouc, contributed a goal in the crushing victory over Brno. He added two assists to this tally.
