Back to His Roots: Mukthar Adams Reunites with His First Coach

Nigerian footballer Mukthar Adams, currently playing for Odds Ballklubb in Norway, returned to the grassroots football pitch in Kano State to reunite with his first coach, Isa Sadiq, in an emotional homecoming.

Adams shared a special moment with Coach Sadiq, presenting him with his Odds Ballklubb jersey a symbolic gesture of appreciation for the early guidance that helped shape his career.

Photographs captured the pair at the very ground where Adams first fell in love with football, underscoring the deep bond between player and mentor.

Born in Kano, Adams developed his skills under Coach Sadiq before moving to Lagos, where he continued his progression with Sporting Lagos and eventually earned a transfer to Norway.

The reunion highlighted the essential role grassroots coaches play in nurturing talent a reminder that behind every professional footballer often stands a dedicated mentor who believed in them before the crowds and contracts arrived.

Editorial

There are moments in a player’s journey that transcend the neatly printed stat lines or transfer fees moments that pulse with narrative significance because they lay bare the very soul of where and how a footballer becomes a footballer. Mukthar Adams’s return to the dusty pitch in Kano, standing shoulder to shoulder once again with his first coach, Isa Sadiq, is one such moment.

In an age where the footballing conversation is so often monopolised by agents, analytics and astronomical valuations, Adams’s pilgrimage back to his roots is a vivid reminder of the humble architecture of dreams the coach who saw potential before the highlight reels, the barefoot afternoons that taught balance before big-money contracts, and the belief that carried a boy from Nigeria’s grassroots up to European football.

Odds Ballklubb may be the stage where Adams now plies his trade, but Kano was and always will be the crucible. It was here that his first touches hinted at a sharper edge, that a coach’s encouragement translated into conviction, and that the simple joy of the game took root. The gift of his club jersey to Coach Sadiq was not a mere formality but a literary full stop to one chapter and a hopeful comma to the next a tribute to the past and a signal to the future.

Grassroots football in Nigeria, and across Africa, remains the fertile soil from which the continent’s most compelling stories emerge. It is where talent incubates away from television cameras, where a coach’s eye matters more than a scout’s spreadsheet, and where the measure of success often lies in character as much as in trophies. Adams’s journey is shaped overwhelmingly by these truths.

But it should also challenge our footballing institutions from academies to federations to invest more deeply and intelligently in that first line of development. For every success story that reaches Norway or Spain or Manchester, there are countless others whose potential never sees the light of organised opportunity because the foundations are cracked.

On that pitch in Kano, with coach and pupil reunited, one sees not just a thank-you but a testament to football’s enduring purity a purity that begins not with contracts and caps, but with a ball, a dream, and someone who believes before the rest of the world does.

Did You Know?

1. Growing the Game Nigeria’s grassroots football system spanning street football, academies and school competitions — has produced numerous professionals abroad, including stars in Europe’s top leagues.
2. Sporting Lagos Pathway Sporting Lagos, where Adams further developed after Kano, has become one of Nigeria’s most progressive clubs in nurturing young talent, attracting scouts from across Africa.
3. Odds Ballklubb’s Track Record Odds Ballklubb, Adams’s current club, has a history of developing young players and helping them springboard into bigger European leagues.
4. Kano State as a Talent Hub: Kano State has historically been one of Nigeria’s most prolific producers of football talent, with several national team players emerging from the region’s local leagues.
5. Grassroots Coaching Impact Studies show that players who maintain strong ties with their grassroots coaches often display greater psychological resilience and adaptability in professional environments due to early mentorship influences.