Adi Yussuf (Page 2)

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Striker Adi Yussuf is starting to find his fitness having arrived late in to the Yeovil Town squad, according to manager Darren Sarll.

The 29-year-old arrived at Huish Park less than a month ago and has appeared as a substitute in the Glovers’ opening three mtches.

He opened his goal-scoring account with the third in a 3-0 win at Stockport County on Saturday having replaced Sonny Blu Lo-Everton with nine minutes remaining.

Adi Yussuf.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

Speaking after the game, the manager said: “The third goal was all about Adi’s pace and power. We have to remember a lot of these younger players have had (much longer) to prepare and it does take players coming in later time to get up to speed.

“I have felt in the last couple of games that Adi has been a huge presence at a time when we have needed pace, power and directness which is obviously a nice contrast to Sonny (Blu Lo-Everton).”

The former Solihull Moors and  Wrexham man missed two good chances having come on as a second half substitute in the 1-0 home win over FC Halifax Town seven days earlier.

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Adi Yussuf in action against Yeovil for Mansfield

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll spoke highly of his new front man Adi Yussuf ahead of the game with King’s Lynn.

Speaking to the Gloverscast’s own Ben Barrett the Manager said he was excited to work with Yussuf after he had been triying to secure his services for a while.

“We have been speaking to Adi and his agent all summer… he’s at a good age at 29, established in the division and has the capability to score 20-plus goals a season”

Those final words will be music to Yeovil fans’ ears after the summer departure of Rhys Murphy to Southend, it’s a sentiment that was backed up recently by the Blackpool Gazette journalist Matt Scrafton who agreed with Sarll that Yussuf probably just needs a solid base from which to really fire.

 

Sarll added of the former Tangerines’ front man; “He’s an uncomplicated finisher (with) brutal force and instinct”

“Wilkinson said when we played against Yussuf he gave him a hard time and those things are important when new players walk into the dressing room… Adi needs a spike in his fitness levels before we see him week in week out, but he will be a really good signing.”

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Striker Reuben Reid and defender Mark Little will both be out of contention for Yeovil Town until Christmas, according to manager Darren Sarll.

Speaking ahead of the opening National League fixture at home to King’s Lynn on Saturday, the boss confirmed Little had undergone surgery on his foot after picking up an injury in the pre-season friendly against Forest Green Rovers.

Reid suffered a hamstring tear in the friendly against Weston-super-Mare will be missing for up to four months.

Yeovil Town manager Darren Sarll.
Picture courtesy of Mike Kunz.

 

Sarll said: “Both of them (Reid and Little) we should expect them around Christmas, if anyone was going to come back sooner it would Reuben but Mark had to undergo an operation.

“I have never seen anything like it in 20 years, put your foot down and rotate it the wrong way and a ligament ruptured on top of his metatarsal that keeps the metatarsal in position. – that is a new one on me!”

He also confirmed that defender Alex Bradley and loan midfielder Lewis Simper are also likely to miss the opening game.

Both appear to have been among a group of players who have been affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 which led to the postponement of the club’s final two pre-season friendlies and last weekend’s trip to Wrexham.

Speaking about new striker Adi Yussuf, the manager said the former Wrexham and Solihull Moors player still needed to work on his fitness before he could be a regular.

He said: “(Luke) Wilkinson said when he played against Yussuf (in training) he gave him a hard time and all those things are important when new players walk in to the dressing room.

“It would have been ideal if they had a bit longer, Adi needs to spike his fitness levels a bit before we see him playing week in, week out but he will be a really good signing.

“He has got that hunger back and sometimes players just need a home and to feel wanted and (Joe) Quigley was in that category and I am looking forward to working with Adi.”

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New signing Adi Yussuf could be a regular goal-scorer if he can get a regular starting spot with Yeovil Town.

Matt Scrafton, the reporter for the Blackpool Gazette, told the Gloverscast that the 29-year-old was something of a victim of circumstance after signing from Solihull Moors in May 2019.

Just over a month after he signed, Terry McPhillips, the manager who signed him stepped down after a takeover, and the striker never kicked a ball for the Seasiders.

He spent last season on loan at Wrexham and Chesterfield and was eventually released in the summer before arriving at Huish Park.

Matt said: “If he (Yussuf) stayed at a club for two or three years and was in the team every week, I get the feeling he could do a job.

“Give him 40 games a season and he will probably get you 15 or 20 goals, but he has never seemed to have settled at a club.

“We obviously did not see him in a competitive game for Blackpool but from what I have seen, he could do well in non-League.”

The Tanzania-born striker made Yeovil the 18th club of a career which started in the youth set-up at Leicester City via permanent moves at Mansfield Town, Grimsby Town, Barrow and then Solihull.

In fact, it was Yussuf’s performances in two FA Cup appearances for Solihull against Blackpool in 2019 that led to McPhillips picking him up.

He said: “He played in the FA Cup against Blackpool for Solihull and scored twice in the replay, and in both games he played really well.

“Based on those two performances and the fact he’d scored quite a few goals that season, so McPhillips signed him off the back of that.

“That summer (the Blackpool  owner) Simon Sadler took over and had a bit more money and McPhillips stepped down and Simon Grayson came back and he (Yussuf) never got a look in.

“It quickly became clear that Yussuf was not going to get a look in, so he was a bit unfortunate really because he did not really do anything wrong.“

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Striker Adi Yussuf has become the latest addition to Yeovil Town‘s squad having joined on a free transfer following his release by Blackpool.

The 28-year-old spent last season on loan at both Wrexham and Chesterfield in the National League Premier, scoring eight times in 28 appearances for both clubs.

Speaking to the club’s official website, he said: “I’m really excited, I can’t wait to play in front of all the fans. 

“We’ve got a good squad here that should be competing so I’m looking forward to it.. 

“The gaffer (Darren Sarll) was in contact a few weeks ago and we’ve spoken throughout the summer, he was really good to me and now I’m finally here.”

Asked what he us like as a player, he said: “I like to score goals, put myself about and work hard” – which is a relief given the fact we presently have one striker, Joe Quigley, going in to the opening game against King’s Lynn Town on August 28.

There has been no update on the injury to Reuben Reid after he picked up what the manager described as “a hamstring tear” in the 1-1 draw at Weston-super-Mare on August 7.

Yussuf, who is a Tanazanian international having played twice for them in 2019, has most recently been on trial at League Two new boys Hartlepool United, but the signing of ex-Glovers’ loanee Olufela Olomola and ex-Blackpool striker Mark Cullen appears to have squeeze Yussuf out.

His most prolific campaign came at Solihull Moors in the 2018-19 season when they reached the National League play-offs with the striker scoring 17 times.

That include a brace in an FA Cup replay at Blackpool which appeared to impress the Seasiders who signed up on a two-year deal following the expiry of his contract at Solihull that summer.

However, he failed to make a single appearance and being loaned back to Solihull in the 2019-20 campaign and then to Wrexham and latterly Chesterfield.