# Abdul Fatawu

Abdul Fatawu Issahaku (born 8 March 2004), commonly known as Abdul Fatawu, is a Ghanaian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Premier League club Leicester City and the Ghana national team.

## Club career
### Steadfast

In 2019, at the age of fifteen, Fatawu started his career with Tamale-based club Steadfast FC, in the Zone One of the Division One League, the Ghanaian second tier. During his debut season, he immediately established himself as one of the most talented players in the league, scoring eight goals and assisting five in 13 matches before the league was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In his second season, he scored 12 goals and made 12 assists in 14 league matches and picked up 8 man of the match awards. In 2021, after the Africa U-20 Cup of Nations, Fatawu was linked with several European teams, some of them being Liverpool, Bayer Leverkusen, and Sporting CP. In October 2021, Fatawu joined Dreams on a loan until 2022. In the same month, he was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2021", and was described by them as "arguably the best African prospect of his generation".

### Sporting CP

In April 2022, he was signed by Sporting CP on a five-year contract with a release clause of €60 million. This brought finality to rumors of him joining Sporting CP on loan from Liverpool and other transfer saga rumor. Prior to signing officially Fatawu had been at the club since February and had been training with the U-23 side. As he was an under age player at the time, and with the season already ongoing, he couldn't be registered with the first-team until the 2022–23 season, then, he began to train with the B team until available to play for the professional team.
Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Fatawu was named in the squad for pre-season training and tour for the first team. He was involved in the team's preparations prior to the start of the season playing his first pre-season game against Belgium side Royale Union. On 7 August 2022, he was named on the bench for the first match of the season. The following weekend he made his debut after coming on in the 80th minute for Francisco Trincão in Sporting CP's 3–0 victory over Rio Ave.

#### Loan to Leicester City

On 31 August 2023, Fatawu signed for EFL Championship side Leicester City on a season-long loan from Sporting CP. He made his club debut in the EFL Championship three days later, coming on as a 54th-minute substitute in a 1–0 home loss to Hull City. On 21 October, he scored his first goal for the club in a 3–1 away win against Swansea City. On 23 April 2024, he scored his first professional hat-trick, in a 5–0 home win against promotion rivals, Southampton. There was a clause inserted into the loan that required Leicester to purchase Fatawu upon promotion for €17 million, which they did in May 2024. 50% of the difference between the sale price to Sporting (€1.2 million) and Leicester was provided to Fatawu's original club, Steadfast FC, who had inserted a sell-on clause in his sale to Sporting.

### Leicester City

On July 1, 2024, Leicester City activated the buy clause and signed for €10 million on a permanent five-year deal contract with €7 million additional fee. As a result, his jersey number changed from No. 18 to No. 7. On August 19, 2024, he made his first Premier League debut as part of the first team squad for Leicester City against Tottenham Hotspur. In that same game, Fatawu provided his first Premier League goal assist from Jamie Vardy in a 1–1 home draw.

## International career
### Youth team

In 2018, Fatawu was part of Ghana's national under-17 team managed by Karim Zito. The team reached the finals of the 2018 WAFU Zone B U-17 Cup of Nations. They however lost in the final to rivals Nigeria via a 3–1 penalty shootout after a 1–1 draw after regulation time, with Fatawu missing his penalty in the shootout. Fatawu remained a member of the Ghana U-17 team and served as captain of the team in 2020, playing during the 2021 Africa U-17 Cup of Nations qualifiers, during 2020 WAFU Zone B U-17 Cup of Nations. At the tournament he scored the equalizing penalty in Ghana's 1–1 draw against Nigeria. Ghana were eliminated from the competition after losing 3–1 against Ivory Coast in their final group game. Ghana's only goal of the game was assisted by Fatawu.
The following year, due to his impressive form, Fatawu was promoted into the under-20 squad at the age of 16, despite being much younger than the majority of his teammates. He was later selected to take part in the 2021 Africa U-20 Cup of Nations. During the competition, he played all of the Black Satellites' matches, scoring two goals in the group stages to help his side win the title for the fourth time in its history. In that occasion, he was also adjudged as the Best Player of the Tournament.

### Senior team

In March 2021, after his exploits with the U-20 side, Fatawu was given his first call-up to the senior team by C.K. Akonnor, as the Black Stars challenged South Africa and São Tomé and Príncipe in two qualifying matches for the Africa Cup of Nations. He was called up alongside teammates from the U-20 AFCON winning team, Philomon Baffour and Ibrahim Danlad.
Fatawu scored a free-kick goal against Uzbekistan when the Black Stars' B Team played Uzbekistan at the Markaziy Stadium. Even though the game ended 2–1 for Uzbekistan, he was highly praised by his performance.
In September 2021, Fatawu made his debut for the Black Stars in a 3–1 victory over Zimbabwe in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifier. Fatawu made the 28-man squad for 2021 Africa Cup of Nations. He was the youngest player in the Ghanaian team and the fourth youngest at the tournament. On 27 September 2021, Fatawu scored his debut goal for the Ghana senior team against Nicaragua.

## Career statistics
### Club

    As of match played 10 November 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition :
| Club | Season | League | League | League | National cup | National cup | League cup | League cup | Continental | Continental | Total | Total |
| Club | Season | Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| Steadfast | 2019–20 | Division One League | 13 | 8 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 8 |
| Steadfast | 2020–21 | Division One League | 14 | 12 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 14 | 12 |
| Steadfast | Total | Total | 27 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 27 | 20 |
| Dreams (loan) | 2021–22 | Ghana Premier League | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 6 |
| Sporting CP B | 2022–23 | Liga 3 | 13 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 13 | 2 |
| Sporting CP | 2022–23 | Primeira Liga | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 12 | 0 |
| Leicester City (loan) | 2023–24 | Championship | 40 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 43 | 7 |
| Leicester City | 2024–25 | Premier League | 11 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 |
| Career total | Career total | Career total | 104 | 34 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 115 | 35 |
* ↑ Includes Taça de Portugal, FA Cup
* ↑ Includes Taça da Liga, EFL Cup
* ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League

### International

    As of match played 15 November 2024
Appearances and goals by national team and year :
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
| Ghana | 2021 | 2 | 0 |
| Ghana | 2022 | 12 | 1 |
| Ghana | 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| Ghana | 2024 | 9 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 24 | 2 |
    Scores and results list Ghana's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Fatawu goal.
List of international goals scored by Abdul Fatawu :
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
| 1 | 27 September 2022 | Estadio Francisco Artés Carrasco, Lorca, Spain | Nicaragua | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 10 June 2024 | Baba Yara Stadium, Kumasi, Ghana | Central African Republic | 3–2 | 4–3 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |

## Honours

Leicester City
* EFL Championship: 2023–24
Ghana U17
* WAFU U-17 Cup of Nations runner-up: 2018
Ghana U20
* Africa U-20 Cup of Nations: 2021
Individual
* Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Best Player: 2021
* Africa U-20 Cup of Nations Best XI: 2021
* Odartey Lamptey Future Star Award: 2021
* SWAG Discovery of the Year: 2021
* Ghana Premier League Player of the Month: November 2021
* Leicester City Men's Young Player of the Season: 2023–24