Abdullahi Ibrahim Alhassan, known as Mu'azzam, is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as an midfielder for Portuguese club Nacional.
Club career
Early career
Alhassan was born in Kano and grew up supporting Nigerian league giants Kano Pillars. He was youth player for F.C. Hearts Academy and the Nigerian U-17 and U-20 youth sides. He formed an effective partnership with Kelechi Iheanacho at the U-17 level, was the joint-top-scorer in the U-17 world-cup qualifiers. He went on to successfully represent the Nigerian U-20 team in 2015.
In late 2015, after receiving offers from teams in Belgium, England, Sweden and Croatia, Alhassan suffered an injury after trials at HNK Rijeka. After recovering, and seeking to maintain his fitness, midway through the 2015-2016 NPFL season he signed a 6-month deal with the Nigeria Professional Football League side Wikki Tourists. He made his league debut in June 2016 against Kano Pillars F.C. in Bauchi. He came on as a second-half substitute to turn the game on its head by scoring two late goals against his hometown club. Already well known as the prodigy dubbed Mu'azzam around his state, the 3-1 upset loss for Pillars did not go down well with the travelling Kano supporters.
At the end of the 2015-2016 NPFL season, Alhassan decided to follow mentor-coach Abdu Maikaba from Wikki to Akwa United F.C. as he enjoyed his ongoing development under Maikaba’s tutelage. He immediately became a focal point of his new team's attacks alongside midfield maestro Orji Sylvester Amaechi. Mu'azzam scored his first career hat-trick in April 2017 against Shooting Stars in a 4-2 win in Uyo. He had a total of 10 goals at the halfway point of the season, after which Akwa United negotiated an improved deal with F.C. Heart Academy to make him the highest earning player at the club and joint highest in the league alongside Super Eagles goalkeeper Ikechukwu Ezenwa. Mu'azzam provided the assist to Christian Pyagbara's goal in the 0-1 away win against Kano Pillars in a well rounded performance to rouse Kano fans for a second-straight year. He went on to win the April 2017 League Bloggers Awards for Player of the month alongside his mentor-coach Maikaba.
