Shehu Abdullahi

For the civil servant, see Abdullahi Shehu.

Shehu Usman Abdullahipronunciation^ⓘ (born 12 March 1993) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder and defender for Nigeria Premier Football League team Kano Pillars.

Shehu Abdullahi

Shehu with Nigeria in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Shehu Usman Abdullahi
Date of birth	(1993-03-12) 12 March 1993 (age 32)
Place of birth	Sokoto, Nigeria
Height	1.82 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s)	Defensive midfielder defender
Team information
Current team	Kano Pillars
Number	4
Youth career
2011	Plateau United
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2012–2014	Kano Pillars	?	(?)
2014–2015	Qadsia	7	(1)
2015–2016	União da Madeira	28	(1)
2016–2018	Anorthosis	48	(3)
2018–2020	Bursaspor	60	(5)
2020–2022	Omonia	50	(0)
2022	Levski Sofia	8	(0)
2024–	Kano Pillars	0	(0)
International career‡
2013	Nigeria U20	4	(0)
2013	Nigeria U21	2	(0)
2014–2019	Nigeria	37	(0)
2016	Nigeria Olympic	5	(0)
Medal record Olympic Games 2016 Rio de Janeiro Team Africa Cup of Nations 2019 Egypt
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 1 December 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 13:30, 16 July 2019 (UTC)

Club career

Qadsia SC

In July 2014, Abdullahi moved from Kano Pillars to Kuwait Premier League side Qadsia SC in a deal worth $480,000, of which Abdullahi received $330,000 and Kano Pillars $150,000.^[1]

União da Madeira

On 6 June 2015, Shehu joined newly promoted Primeira Liga side C.F. União on a two-year deal.^[2]

Anorthosis Famagusta

On 2 September 2016, Shehu joined Cypriot side Anorthosis Famagusta on a two-year deal worth for the 20% ^[3][4] of the player re-sale fee in other European club.^[5]

Bursaspor

On 24 January 2018, Shehu signed for two and a half years Turkish side Bursaspor for an undisclosed fee.^[6]

Omonia

On 19 September 2020, Shehu signed for the Cyprus First Division side Omonia.

Levski Sofia

On 16 September 2022, Shehu signed with Bulgarian First League club Levski Sofia until the end of the 2022–23 season.^[7]

International career

In January 2014, coach Stephen Keshi, invited him to be included in the Nigeria 23-man team for the 2014 African Nations Championship.^[8] Shehu earned his first cap on 11 January 2014, in the 1:2 loss against Mali, appearing as a substitute.^[9] He helped Nigeria defeat Zimbabwe for a third-place finish by a goal to nil.^[10][11]

He was included in the Nigeria 35-man provisional team for the 2016 Summer Olympics.^[12]

In May 2018 he was named in the Nigeria preliminary 30-man team for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, in Russia.^[13]

Career statistics

Club

As of 13 June 2022

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
União da Madeira	2015–16	Primeira Liga	28	1	1	0	1	0	—		—		30	1
Anorthosis	2016–17	Cypriot First Division	29	2	6	1	—		—		—		35	2
	2017–18		19	1	2	0	—		—		—		21	1
	Total		48	3	8	1	—		—		—		56	4
Bursaspor	2017–18	Süper Lig	14	0	—		—		—		—		14	0
	2018–19		13	1	—		—		—		—		13	1
	2019–20	1. Lig	33	4	0	0	—		—		—		33	4
	Total		60	5	0	0	—		—		—		60	5
Omonia	2020–21	Cypriot First Division	30	0	1	0	—		4	0	—		35	0
	2021–22		20	0	3	0	—		9	0	1	0	33	0
	Total		50	0	3	0	—		13	0	1	0	68	0
Career total			186	9	13	1	1	0	13	0	1	0	214	10

International

As of match played 16 July 2019^[14]

Nigeria
Year	Apps	Goals
2014	6	0
2015	4	0
2016	6	0
2017	6	0
2018	6	0
2019	3	0
Total	31	0

Honours

Club

Qadsia

• Kuwait Emir Cup: 2014–15
• Kuwait Super Cup: 2014
• AFC Cup: 2014

Omonia

• Cypriot First Division: 2020–21
• Cypriot Cup: 2021–22
• Cypriot Super Cup: 2021

International

Nigeria U23

• African Games bronze medal: 2015

Nigeria Olympic team

• Summer Olympics bronze medal: 2016