Swedish club Hammarby IF have announced that after signing former Golden Eaglets star Akinkunmi Amoo they have taken up four more Nigerian youngsters and loaned them out to a lower league club.
The boys are Miekam Womene Zuikemefa, Olatomi Alfred Olaniyan, Oluwatobi Samson Abimbola and David Akpan Ankeye.
All four are 18 years old and will initially play on loan at IK Frej.
“There are four very interesting players that we take in on loan with an option. As I said, we see great potential in them, but you should be aware that it can take time to get into a completely new culture, both in terms of football and the social,” sports director Jesper Jansson told the official website of Hammarby.
“The care of these young players is central, and something we put a lot of planning and resources into. We have an established way, and our player manager Wadda Tamimi, together with team manager Atena Gerontidou and Mikael Hjelmberg do a great job in that respect. This follows the same approach as we had with Aidoo, Hudu, Odilon and Amoo, which has given good experiences for both the players and the club.”
Hammarby chief scout Mikael Hjelmberg was delighted with the signings.
“Over the years, we have built up very good relationships with a couple of academies and other people around football in West Africa. Nigeria has a population similar to that of Brazil, and very many promising football players,” he disclosed.
“Now we have such a large and established network of contacts that we have the opportunity to bring to Sweden their most talented players. In Brazil, we are very far behind in the queue.”
Zuokemefa and Abimbola join from Aweskim Academy, while the other two come from Sido Academy.
