in 2011
Early years and Spain Born in
Tamale,
Northern Region, Wakaso began his senior career in
Ashanti Gold SC. In 2008, he moved abroad and signed with
Elche CF in Spain on a five-year contract, but only joined the club nearly two months later, however, due to international duty. In late January 2011, after several bouts of indiscipline and internal codes violations, Wakaso was released by the
Valencians. Shortly after, he joined another side in the region and
Segunda División,
Villarreal CF's
B team. On 27 February 2011, Wakaso made his
La Liga debut, coming on as a
substitute for
José Catalá in the last minutes of a 2–2 away draw against
Racing de Santander. He only played six matches in his
first full season, and the
Yellow Submarine was also relegated after 12 years in the top flight. Wakaso signed for
RCD Espanyol on 11 July 2012, penning a four-year contract. He started in 23 of his league appearances for the
Catalans in his
only season.
Rubin Kazan In the last days of the 2013 summer
transfer window, Wakaso moved to the
Russian Premier League with
FC Rubin Kazan. On 28 August 2014, he joined
Celtic on a
season-long loan. Wakaso scored on his competitive debut for Celtic, netting the first in a
2–2 away draw against
FC Red Bull Salzburg in the
UEFA Europa League group stage. On 30 August 2015, after appearing rarely, he was loaned to
UD Las Palmas for one year.
Panathinaikos On 10 July 2016, Wakaso signed a three-year contract with
Super League Greece club
Panathinaikos F.C. for an undisclosed fee. On 15 September, in the last minute of a
Europa League group phase home fixture against
AFC Ajax, he was
sent off – as teammate
Ivan Ivanov midway through the second half of the eventual 1–2 home loss– and
UEFA subsequently suspended him a further two games after his initial ban was over. On 1 February 2017, Wakaso was loaned to another Spanish top-flight side,
Granada CF. He scored his first goal for them on 1 March, helping to a 2–1 home win over
Deportivo Alavés.
Alavés On 17 July 2017, the day after mutually terminating his contract, Wakaso signed a three-year deal with Alavés. He scored his only competitive goal for the
Basques on 18 May 2019, in a 2–1 home defeat of
Girona FC who were
relegated as a result.
China Wakaso transferred to
Chinese Super League side
Jiangsu Suning F.C. on 18 January 2020. On 12 April of the following year, he joined
Shenzhen F.C. in the same country after the former were dissolved. ==International career==