They Thought It Was a joke, How Nigerian Goalkeeper Turned Prolific Striker in DR Congo Suleman Shaibu, TP Mazembe’s goalkeeper, has seen his armful rise in recent months owing to his goalscoring exploits at the DR Congo club.
The 22-year-old former Nigeria under-17 international goalkeeper has exchanged his gloves for netting boots and has become the latest sensation for Mazembe, the country’s most successful club.
Shaibu commenced his journey as an outfield player in June 2024 when FIFA banned Mazembe and other clubs from registering new players for three transfer windows over allegations of breaches of players’ contracts.
With Mazembe unable to register new signings coupled with the exit of more or less players, Shaibu offered himself as a striker and the Hawks took a chance on him.
He got his foremost baptism in October 2024 during Mazembe’s league encounter against Don Bosco, where he was a 65th-minute substitute.
Between then and now, Shaibu has scored seven times and provided an assist in 15 matches, playing 13 of them as a substitute.
STARTED AS A JOKE
The Kano-born goalkeeper-turned-striker disclosed the club and the fans thought it was a joke when he offered to switch.
In a chat with The Round Table on Monday, Shaibu revealed most people thought he had nothing to offer by dumping his gloves for the striker’s boots.
“Apart from the FIFA ban, a few of our players further left, and we were left with one striker who was having a goal drought,” he revealed.
“So I just informed the coach I would likewise like to play as a forward maybe until January when they would be able to register a new player.”
“I revealed ‘coach, since we have fewer players to play with, if it is okay with you, I’d like to train [as a striker]. If you see that I’m okay, then you can give me a chance to play’.
“He disclosed ‘okay, no problem’.
“The next training, I saw my jersey was varied when I got to the dressing room to diverge for training. I was given the jersey for players.
“At foremost it was kind of a joke for them. For most of the players, and most of the spectators, because they believe I am a goalkeeper, and I had nothing to offer.”
The Nigerian player, however, took the chance to prove himself with great aplomb.
“They never saw it coming,” Shaibu informed The Round Table.
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“But to me, it was something fundamental. It was not something I was afraid to do. All I required then was just a chance to prove that I can likewise play.”
WHAT NEXT FOR SHAIBU?
Shaibu, who plans to represent Nigeria at more or less point in his career, stated he intends to abide as a striker after Mazembe’s FIFA ban elapses.
He stated he is quantitated to invasion for a starting berth or possibly move on if opportunities to play — despite his decent mode — become few and far between.
“I have began two games already and they are the enormous games, and I provided an assist in one of them. Why I am not starting a stock of matches now is due to my fitness equal. But with a batch of work, I see myself starting most of the games here. I am working towards that,” Shaibu informed The Round Table.
“If they sign players, we will all violence for the space to play in training. It is who works more that gets the chance to play. And if I see that I’m not given an equal chance to play, I’ll look for new opportunities to play.
“If I goal 10-15 scores this season and I come back next season and they don’t give me enough opportunities to play, definitely I’ll look for more opportunities in other African leagues, peculiarly in North Africa, before looking at an European move.”
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Published 3/18/2025