Better days are finally here for Nigeria star Rabiu Ibrahim at Kilmarnock after new boss Allan Johnston hailed his magical skills.
Rabiu, once dubbed heir apparent to the legendary Austin “Jay Jay’ Okocha, has featured for Nigeria at U17, U20 and Olympic team levels and he is on the fringes of a full international debut.
But he has not been lucky with games at all the European clubs he had played for, but that might change now as he is working under a manager who has seen great prospects in the Nigeria central midfielder, who plays same pattern with him.
Allan Johnston’s arrival at Kilmarnock in the summer might be the best thing that has happened to the midfielder.
Ibrahim, 22, did not play a game for Sporting Lisbon, before he played two matches for PSV Eindhoven and one for Celtic and was then forced to pitch up at Rugby Park in January.
He played only three games under Kenny Shiels – but Johnston’s arrival has seen Ibrahim identified as the team’s playmaker and the new manager said he believes Killie fans are only just starting to realise they’ve unearthed a gem.
Johnston said: “When I arrived I didn’t know much about him (Rabiu), but I saw his skill straight away.
“He’s been brilliant, really creative. Some of his skill is unbelievable to watch.
“We’re just trying to work on his end product and add goals to his game. He’s started to put some crosses into the box and he’s always trying to look for that forward pass in behind that strikers love.
“When you have people of his quality supplying crosses and passes, the players up front will score goals.
“I took him off last week when we went down to 10 men. He played terrifically, but it doesn’t help when you’re a man down.
“He is just getting his fitness as he’s not played a lot of football for a while – he’s just now getting used to being a first-team regular rather than a sub.
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