Akinkunmi Amoo
Amoo with Hammarby IF in 2021
Personal information
Full name Akinkunmi Ayobami Amoo[1]
Date of birth (2002-06-07) 7 June 2002
Place of birth Ibadan, Nigeria
Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Omonia
Number 88
Youth career
Brightville Academy
Sidos FC
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2020–2022 Hammarby IF 35 (9)
2022–2023 Copenhagen 4 (1)
2023– Omonia 0 (0)
International career‡
2019 Nigeria U17 10 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 30 November 2022
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 8 June 2020

Akinkunmi Ayobami Amoo (born 7 June 2002) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Omonia.

Early life

Amoo was born in Ibadan, and started playing youth football at Brightville Academy. In his teens, he moved to Lagos to join Sidos FC.[3][4][5]

Club career

Hammarby IF

2020

On 8 June 2020, shortly after his 18th birthday, Amoo transferred to Swedish club Hammarby IF on a four-year contract.[6] In the process, he reportedly turned down a move to Monaco and Milan.[5] Amoo made his competitive debut in Allsvenskan on 14 September, in a 2–2 home draw against Helsingborgs IF.[7] On 10 November, Amoo scored a brace, his first competitive goals for Hammarby IF, in a 5–0 win against FC Gute in Svenska Cupen, the main domestic cup.[8]

2021

In 2021, following the departure of Alexander Kačaniklić, Amoo established himself as a regular starter for Hammarby.[9] On 7 March, he scored a long-range strike against rivals AIK in a 3–2 home win in Svenska Cupen, which meant that his side advanced to the quarter-finals of the tournament.[10] On 17 April, Amoo scored his first league goal in Allsvenskan for the club, in a 2–0 home win against Mjällby AIF.[11] On 30 May, Amoo won the 2020–21 Svenska Cupen with Hammarby, through a 5–4 win on penalties (0–0 after full-time) against BK Häcken in the final.[12][13] He featured in all six games as the side reached the play-off round of the 2021–22 UEFA Europa Conference League, after eliminating Maribor (4–1 on aggregate) and FK Čukarički (6–4 on aggregate), where the club was knocked out by Basel (4–4 on aggregate) after a penalty shoot-out.[14][15][16][17] Following his performances throughout the year, Amoo reportedly attracted interest from big European clubs like Ajax, Leicester and Valencia.[5] He was one of three finalists for Allsvenskan young player of the year, that ultimately was awarded to Veljko Birmančević from Malmö FF.[18]

F.C. Copenhagen

On 31 January 2022, Amoo signed a five-year deal with F.C. Copenhagen in the Danish Superliga.[19][20] The fee was reportedly set at around €4.4 million, plus bonuses and a sell-on clause, making it a record breaking transfer for Hammarby. He also became one of Copenhagen's record arrivals, in the same region as Pep Biel and Ísak Bergmann Jóhannesson.[21][22][23][24]

Omonia

On 13 September 2023, Amoo signed a three-year deal with Omonia.

International career

Amoo began his international career with Nigeria in the 2019 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations, and scored in his debut in a 5–4 group stage win against Tanzania, where they finished fourth in the tournament.[25] Later the same year, Amoo was part of the Nigerian squad that got knocked out in the round of 16 during the 2019 U-17 World Cup.[26][27]

In early 2022, Amoo was sought out by Nigeria head coach Augustine Eguavoen for the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations, as a replacement for Odion Ighalo who had to withdraw from the tournament, but the call-up was not granted by the Confederation of African Football.[28]

Style of play

A left-footed player, Amoo is known for his pace, ball control and technical ability. As an inverted winger, he is prone to dribble and cut inside from the flank.[29] Due to his small stature, low centre of gravity and agility, Amoo has been compared with Lionel Messi in his native country, even gaining the nickname "portable" by his teammate Kelechi Iheanacho.[5]


In September 2022, Amoo was arrested and detained for charges related to sexual assaults in Copenhagen, Denmark. According to reports the incident occurred between April 2022 through August 2022 leading to his arrest in September 2022. He was granted bail in October 2022 after being detained for one month. Amoo has been charged with rape in a sexual relationship other than intercourse, defamation as well as attempted rape and violations of two other women.[30] On June 27, 2023 several Nigeria media outlets revealed that Amoo had been sentenced to one year in prison for sexual assaults.[31][32][33][30]

Career statistics

As of 13 November 2022[2]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hammarby IF 2020 Allsvenskan 60120072
2021 299726[lower-alpha 1]04211
Total 35 9 8 4 6 0 49 13
Copenhagen 2021–22 Danish Superliga 2 1 0 0 0 0 2 1
2022–23 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
Total 4 1 0 0 0 0 4 1
Career total 391084605314

Honours

Hammarby IF

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-17 World Cup Brazil - List of Players" (PDF). fifadata.com. FIFA. p. 18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 December 2019. Retrieved 27 December 2019.
  2. 1 2 "Akinkunmi Amoo". Soccerway. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  3. ↑ "FIFA agent hails Brightville boss' youth development programme". The Guardian. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  4. ↑ "33. Akinkunmi Amoo" (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  5. 1 2 3 4 "Akinkunmi Amoo: Nigeria's 'Little Messi' setting Swedish football alight". Goal. 9 November 2021. Retrieved 9 November 2021.
  6. ↑ "Amoo klar för Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 8 June 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  7. ↑ "2-2 mot Helsingborg efter två tappade ledningar" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 14 September 2020. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  8. ↑ "Komfortabel cupseger i Visby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 10 November 2020. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  9. ↑ "Billborn bekräftar Kacaniklic-avsked: "Hans bästa fotboll någonsin"" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 11 February 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  10. ↑ "Kämpainsats och drömmål gav cupavancemang" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 7 March 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  11. ↑ "Effektivt Bajen vann hemmapremiären" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 17 April 2021. Retrieved 16 May 2021.
  12. ↑ "Hammarby cupvinnare efter straffdrama" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  13. ↑ "Historisk och dramatisk cupfinalseger mot Häcken" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 30 May 2021. Retrieved 30 May 2021.
  14. ↑ "Maribor 0 – 1 Hammarby". UEFA. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  15. ↑ "Hammarby 5 – 1 Čukarički". UEFA. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Hammarby 3 – 1 Basel". UEFA. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Ett slut att glömma efter 210 minnesvärda minuter" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "De här kan vinna på Allsvenskans Stora Pris". Allsvenskan. 3 December 2021. Retrieved 27 December 2021.
  19. ↑ "Amoo klar for København" (in Danish). F.C. Copenhagen. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  20. ↑ "Akinkunmi Amoo till FC Köpenhamn" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  21. ↑ "B.T. afslører: FC København køber Akinkunmi Amoo" (in Danish). B.T. (tabloid). 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  22. ↑ "FCK tæt på ønskespiller: Enig med Hammarby" (in Danish). Ekstra Bladet. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  23. ↑ "Hammarby och FCK är överens om Amoo" (in Swedish). Expressen. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  24. ↑ "AVSLÖJAR: Rekordaffären nära – Amoo till Köpenhamn för slutförhandling" (in Swedish). Aftonbladet. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 30 January 2022.
  25. ↑ "AFCON U17 - Nigeria shock host Tanzania in nine-goal thriller". CAF. 14 April 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  26. ↑ "Nigeria". FIFA. Archived from the original on 10 July 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  27. ↑ "Fifa U-17 World Cup: Nigeria seek sixth title as they announce squad". BBC. 19 October 2019. Retrieved 27 October 2020.
  28. ↑ "AFCON 2021: Eguavoen reveals why Amoo did not replace Ighalo". Soccernet.ng. 7 January 2022. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
  29. ↑ "Awesome Amoo: The Allsvenskan wonderkid destined for the Premier League – scout report". Total Football Analysis. 13 May 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  30. 1 2 Ashong, Angella (27 June 2023). "Akinkunmi Amoo facing prison sentence over sexual assault - Nigeria Sports News". Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  31. ↑ Shittu, Ibitoye (27 June 2023). "Heartbreak As Super Eagles Player Sentenced to Prison in Denmark for Allegedly Assaulting 3 Women". SportsBrief - Sport news. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  32. ↑ Apanpa, Olaniyi (27 June 2023). "Ex-Eaglets player jailed for rape in Denmark". Punch Newspapers. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
  33. ↑ Akanbi, Adeola (27 June 2023). "Nigeria former U17 player recieves [sic] one year imprisonment in Denmark for sexual assault - Soccernet NG". Soccernet.ng. Retrieved 27 June 2023.
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