Anthony Nwakaeme’s contract expires in June and will not be renewed. But before he walks out of Trabzonspor for the last time, the 37-year-old Nigerian winger wants one more piece of silverware to take with him.
Trabzonspor face Gençlerbirliği in the Turkish Cup semi-final next Wednesday, and Anthony Nwakaeme has made clear exactly what that match means to him. He wants to end his Trabzonspor chapter the same way his first spell ended, with a cup winner’s medal in his hands.
The veteran left winger lifted the Turkish Cup with the Black Sea Storm in the 2019/20 season. He is back at the club for a second spell, his contract is up in June, and one final trophy would be the perfect closing line to a story that has spanned eight years and two separate chapters at the Papara Park.
A Season Spent Mostly on the Bench
The 2025/26 campaign has not been what Nwakaeme had in mind when he returned to Trabzonspor in 2024. A lengthy injury lay-off ruled him out of the opening months of the season entirely, and he only returned to the squad in January 2026.
By then, compatriot Paul Onuachu had taken complete control of the Trabzonspor attack. Onuachu has scored 22 league goals this season and has been one of the most dominant forwards in Turkish football, accounting for more than 40 percent of all Trabzonspor’s league goals. With Onuachu untouchable and the side in the title race, Nwakaeme’s minutes have been hard to come by. Fans following Trabzonspor’s cup and title run can check the latest Bet9ja promo code before Wednesday’s semi-final.
His Turkish Cup Contribution Has Been Real
In the Super Lig this season, the numbers are modest: zero goals, two assists, 246 minutes played across five appearances. The Turkish Cup has been more generous. Nwakaeme started against Fethiyespor in the group stage and had his best night in claret and blue all campaign, assisting the opener for Ernest Muci and then scoring himself, a powerful left-footed finish that flew into the roof of the net.
It was his first goal of the entire 2025/26 season, coming in February after months out injured. The performance reminded everyone watching what Nwakaeme is capable of when fully fit and trusted with a starting role. His FotMob rating for the season sits at 6.68, solid enough, but well below the level he set in his prime years at the club. Those backing Trabzonspor’s domestic trophy push can find the latest odds at bet9japromotioncode.com.ng ahead of the Gençlerbirliği tie.
Onuachu in the Spotlight, Nwakaeme in the Shadows
The contrast between the two Nigerians at Trabzonspor this season could not be sharper. Onuachu is closing in on the record for the highest-scoring foreign player in a single season in Trabzonspor’s history, a record currently held by Georgian legend Shota Arveladze.
Nwakaeme, meanwhile, has accepted his reduced role without public complaint. When Trabzonspor beat Galatasaray earlier in the season, Nwakaeme played 79 minutes and set up the winner for Chibuike Nwaiwu. He has been a squad player this season, but a willing and professional one. His experience in the dressing room, as one of the senior figures, has clearly carried weight even when his playing time has not.
What a Cup Win Would Mean
Nwakaeme joined Trabzonspor from Hapoel Beer Sheva in August 2018. Since then, he has been part of a squad that won the Turkish Cup in 2019/20, ended a 38-year Super Lig title drought in 2021/22, and has remained consistently competitive across multiple seasons. That is a legacy worth celebrating.
A Turkish Cup in 2025/26 would make it two cup winner’s medals from two Trabzonspor spells. For a player who has given the Black Sea city so much across eight years, it would be a farewell gift the fans would remember. Wednesday’s semi-final against Gençlerbirliği is the first step. Supporters who want to back Nwakaeme’s final push can get started with this Bet9ja promo code today page before the cup kicks off.
📌 Did You Know?
- Anthony Nwakaeme began his professional career in Romania in 2010 at Ariesul Turda on loan from Universitatea Cluj. He went on to play for Petrolul Ploiesti and then Hapoel Ra’anana and Hapoel Beer Sheva in Israel, where he established himself as one of the most exciting wide players in the Israeli Premier League before Trabzonspor came calling in 2018.
- Nwakaeme’s brother, Dickson Nwakaeme, is also a professional footballer. The two siblings have followed similar paths through European football, though Anthony is far better known internationally thanks to his eight years of consistent output in the Turkish Super Lig.
- Nwakaeme made his one and only Nigeria senior cap on November 10, 2017, in a 1-1 World Cup qualifier draw against Algeria. Despite years of outstanding club form in Turkey, he was never recalled to the Super Eagles setup, making him one of the more glaring omissions from Nigerian squads during the late 2010s and early 2020s.
- Paul Onuachu, who has displaced Nwakaeme as Trabzonspor’s main attacking threat this season, is closing in on the record for the highest-scoring foreign player in a single Trabzonspor season. Georgian legend Shota Arveladze set that record, and Onuachu’s 22 league goals have put him within striking distance with games still to play in the Super Lig run-in.
- Trabzonspor’s 2021/22 Super Lig title ended a wait of 38 years for the club, their previous championship having come in the 1983/84 season. Nwakaeme was a key contributor to that title-winning campaign, posting 13 goals and 10 assists across 30 league appearances, one of the finest individual seasons by a Nigerian player in Turkish top-flight football.
- Trabzonspor’s Papara Park stadium, the venue for Nwakaeme’s home matches this season, holds over 40,000 supporters. The stadium was renovated and rebranded in recent years and has become one of the most atmospheric venues in Turkish football, particularly for big European nights when Trabzonspor have competed in the Champions League and Europa League.
- Gençlerbirliği, Trabzonspor’s Turkish Cup semi-final opponents next Wednesday, are based in Ankara and have a long history in Turkish football dating back to 1923. The club has won the Turkish Cup once, in 1987, and their semi-final appearance reflects a period of revival for one of Ankara’s most traditionally supported clubs after seasons in the lower divisions.
