Early career Yakubu was born in
Benin City,
Edo State. He started his career with
Julius Berger in Lagos as a teenager in the
Nigerian Premier League. He was later loaned to Portuguese club
Gil Vicente.
Maccabi Haifa Israeli side
Maccabi Haifa paid Julius Berger $300,000 for his signature. Yakubu's highest scoring season at Haifa was 2001–02, when he scored 13 times in 22 games (League season was 33 matches). He came to England and trained with
Derby County but could not obtain a work permit at the time. He scored seven goals in eight European Cup appearances in the 2002–03
UEFA Champions League, (including
a hat-trick against
Olympiakos and a penalty in the 3–0 win over
Manchester United).
Portsmouth Yakubu moved to English club
Portsmouth of the
First Division (now the
Championship) on loan on 6 January 2003. Signed by
Harry Redknapp, Yakubu helped Portsmouth win the
2002–03 First Division title, scoring at a rate of one goal in every two games (7 in 14 matches). He made his debut as a 57th-minute
substitute for
Vincent Péricard in a 1–1 away match versus
Brighton & Hove Albion on 18 January. On 1 February he started for the first time and scored after 4 minutes at home to
Grimsby Town. The match ended 3–0 with Yakubu substituted for Péricard after 89 minutes. Seven days later, Yakubu scored a goal in each half of a 6–2 victory over
Derby County for his first brace in English football. He gained his second brace of the season with two first-half goals in a 5–0 away victory at
Millwall on 1 March. Yakubu made his loan spell at Portsmouth permanent in May 2003 for a fee of £4 million. He played 37 of Portsmouth's 38 Premier League matches in 2003–04, starting all but two. Yakubu's 16 goals made him the club's leading goal-scorer, and joint-sixth highest scorer in the entire league. Yakubu scored his first Premier League goal in his second match, opening a 1–1 draw versus
Manchester City on 23 August 2003. After eight consecutive league matches without a goal, he scored a brace in a
League Cup match away to
Nottingham Forest on 29 October, one of which was in extra time of the 4–2 win. Yakubu scored the final goal of a 6–1 home win over
Leeds United on 8 November. On 3 January 2004, he scored an 89th-minute winner in the FA Cup third round match at home to
Blackpool. Three days later he scored an equaliser in the Premier League as Portsmouth lost 2–1 away to
Aston Villa. On 10 January he scored his first Premier League brace with two goals in the second half of a 4–2 home win over Manchester City. He played at the
2004 African Cup of Nations. Yakubu ended the season with 11 goals in his last 10 Premier League matches, starting with one each in four straight games, the first being the only goal in the
South Coast derby versus Southampton on 21 March. This was followed by a late winner against
Blackburn Rovers in a 2–1 away victory, and an equaliser away to
Charlton Athletic. On the final day of the season, he scored four goals as Portsmouth defeated
Middlesbrough 5–1. In the 2004–05 season he scored 13 goals. His final goal for Portsmouth in May 2005 before he left the club – the equaliser in a 1–1 home draw to
Bolton Wanderers in the penultimate league game of the season – was the goal that ensured Portsmouth would not be relegated from Premiership in the 2004–05 season. Yakubu's 28 Premier League goals between his two seasons make him Portsmouth's highest ever scorer in the Premier League, with nine more than their second-highest scorer
Benjani Mwaruwari.
Middlesbrough in 2006 After the 2004–05 season, he transferred from Portsmouth to
Middlesbrough for a £7.5 million record fee, the highest for a Nigerian ever. Yakubu scored the only goal of the game with a penalty in the first leg of the
UEFA Cup last 16 round at home against
Roma, giving Middlesbrough a 1–0 victory, who later went through on away goals. His performances were rewarded, as he helped Middlesbrough reach the
2006 UEFA Cup Final against
Sevilla, in which they lost 4–0. His transfer from Portsmouth to Middlesbrough in July 2005 is one of those about which the
Stevens inquiry report in June 2007 expressed concerns because of the lack of co-operation from agents
Pinhas Zahavi and
Barry Silkman.
Everton Yakubu was transferred to
Everton in August 2007 for a fee of £11.25 million on a five-year contract, Shunning the traditional centre-forwards' number 9, Yakubu asked to be assigned number 22, setting this number as a goal-scoring target for his first season, a feat he fell one goal short of achieving. He scored 11 minutes into his debut for the club, the first goal in a 2–1 win against
Bolton Wanderers at the
Reebok Stadium in September 2007. His first hat-trick for the club came against
Fulham in a 3–0 home league win in December 2007. Yakubu travelled to Ghana in early 2008 to compete in the
Cup of Nations. Following Nigeria's exit from the competition, he was late in returning to his club, and as a result was dropped by manager
David Moyes once back in England. Yakubu achieved his highest goal tally for a single season, and also became the first Everton player since
Peter Beardsley to net 20 goals in a season. Yakubu scored his 100th goal in English football in a league game at
West Bromwich Albion early in the
Premier League 2008–09 season. He scored a goal against
Standard Liège in the
UEFA Cup and got back on the scoresheet with a goal against Middlesbrough, his first goal in 10 games. He ruptured his
achilles tendon in the 1–0 away win at
Tottenham Hotspur on 30 November, ruling him out for the rest of the season. Yakubu played his first competitive game after the Achilles tendon injury against
Burnley Reserves, and in his first start for the first team in almost a year, he scored within 11 minutes against
Hull City in the League Cup. He came on for
Jô in first-half injury time and scored an equaliser with his first touch to bring Everton level at
Stamford Bridge against
Chelsea. He later scored the winning goal against Stoke.
Leicester City in 2011 Yakubu joined
Leicester City on loan until the end of the season on 13 January 2011, with the possibility of a permanent transfer. He made his debut and scored in a 1–1 draw against
Preston North End on 15 January 2011, followed by another goal in a 4–2 win over
Millwall on 22 January. On 12 February 2011 he scored a left footed volley in their 2–0 win over local rivals
Derby County. On 2 April 2011, he scored his first hat-trick against his former club
Middlesbrough. He then scored a double in Leicester's 4–2 win over
Watford.
Blackburn Rovers On 31 August 2011, Yakubu signed a three-year contract with
Blackburn Rovers for an undisclosed fee and was assigned the number 24 shirt by manager
Steve Kean. He scored his first and second goals for Blackburn Rovers on 17 September on his Premier League debut against
Arsenal in which Blackburn won 4–3. He was voted Man of the Match as he helped Blackburn to their first win of the season, with Blackburn fans chanting "Feed the Yak and he will score!" by the time the final whistle blew. He scored his third goal in the league in the 3–3 away draw against
Norwich City. Yakubu's fourth and fifth goals of the league season came in an away 3–3 draw at
Wigan Athletic on 19 November 2011. He opened the scoring from long range after 65 seconds and equalised with an injury-time penalty. He had earlier been behind an incident when Blackburn were 2–1 down, by dummying a short corner to allow team-mate
Morten Gamst Pedersen to dribble the ball from the corner and cross for
Junior Hoilett to equalise the game 2–2. At the end of the game, Yakubu admitted that he did not touch the ball and that the goal should not have stood. On 3 December 2011, Yakubu
scored all four goals for Blackburn in a 4–2 home win over
Swansea City. He scored two in each half, finishing with a penalty. It was his first Blackburn hat-trick and his first four-goal game since the last day of the 2003–04 season, for Portsmouth against Middlesbrough. He scored 2 goals, one being a penalty, in his side's shock 2–3 victory against Manchester United at
Old Trafford on 31 December 2011 which left him on 13 goals for the season in all competitions. On 15 January 2012, in a match against
Fulham, Yakubu was sent off for the first time in the
Premier League for a straight red. On his return from suspension, he scored against QPR. On 10 April 2012, Yakubu scored twice, while missing one penalty and scoring a second, in Blackburn's 2–3 loss at home to Liverpool. In his first season at Blackburn, he scored 18 goals, but the club were relegated to the Championship by the end of the season after a 1–0 home loss to in-form
Wigan Athletic. After relegation was confirmed, Yakubu stated that he did not want to play Championship football and wanted to leave Blackburn.
Guangzhou R&F Yakubu confirmed on 28 June 2012 that he had left Blackburn and had signed for Chinese side
Guangzhou R&F, on an initial three-year contract. On 15 July, Yakubu made his Chinese Super League debut in a Guangzhou Derby match which Guangzhou R&F played against
Guangzhou Evergrande at
Tianhe Stadium. He scored the winning goal of the match in the 87th minute, ending Guangzhou Evergrande's 34-league-home-match unbeaten run.
Reading On 2 February 2015,
Reading signed free agent Yakubu on a contract until the end of the
2014–15 season. On 14 February, Yakubu scored his first goal for the
Royals with the winner in a 2–1 defeat of
Derby County at
Pride Park to put the club into the quarter-finals of the
FA Cup. Yakubu was released by Reading on 21 May 2015.
Kayserispor On 31 August 2015, Yakubu signed a one-year contract, with the option of an additional year, with
Süper Lig side
Kayserispor.
Coventry City On 13 February 2017, Yakubu signed for
Coventry City until the end of the
2016–17 season. On 5 April 2017, having featured only three times due to suffering a hamstring injury, Yakubu's Coventry City contract was terminated by mutual consent. He announced his retirement from football on 22 November 2017. ==International career==