Brighton & Hove Albion have splashed £21.5m on Nigerian wonderkid Zadok Yohanna from AIK Stockholm.
The Kaduna native, who only turned professional and moved to Europe last year, now becomes the most expensive player to move from a Scandinavian country to a top league in Europe. The 18-year-old winger is also the most expensive Nigerian teenager, surpassing the fee paid for John Obi Mikel to Chelsea from Norway’s Lyn Oslo in 2006.
Brighton beat Newcastle United and Chelsea to his signature. He has signed a five-year deal and will be with the club until 2031.
Brighton’s young head coach, Fabian Hurzeler, revealed admiration and had high praise for Yohanna and revealed he will join the first team immediately.
“I’m looking forward to working with Zadok. Having seen his games and his attributes, he is a player that can impact games in the final third.
“He’s still young, and will need time to adapt to the club and Premier League, but he’s an exciting player to watch and he brings the kind of creativity we know our fans will enjoy.
“He’s dynamic, has pace and likes to take players on. His attributes and ability will be a real addition to our attacking options.”
Yohanna also declared his admiration for the EPL and sees Brighton as the ideal club for his development due to the club’s reputation of developing young talents. A graduate of the Ikon Allah Academy, he had scored five goals and provided four assists in 18 matches before his shock transfer to England.
