Against the odds, ‘Air Akor’ heads to the top league

In the 2020 season, Jerome Akor Adams managed only three appearances and a goal in the Norwegian second division.

A mysterious back problem had confined him to the treatment table for all of that season.

A very promising career was at the crossroads.

He enjoyed the warmth of fellow Nigerian Akeem Latifu and his family at Sogndal.

The big centre-forward (1.91 metres) will respond to this adversity as only he could – 10 goals the following season to finish as Sogndal top scorer.

That stat was good enough to spark interests from the top clubs in Norway.

Akor then ran out his contract to sign as a free agent with Lillestrom in the Eliteserien, the Norwegian top-flight league.

“I belong to the top league, not to the Obos League,” he would often tell me.

True to his conviction, the ex-Flying Eagles striker crowned his debut season in the top league as Lillestrom top scorer.

His eight-goal tally could well have been better, but for a shoulder injury that required surgery and sidelined him for several months.

Despite this latest setback, Antwerp of Belgium and some clubs in the Major Soccer League (MLS) made contacts with Lillestrom about the player.

Even at the time, he remained positive and said his focus is beyond Lillestrom, a stable, well-run club close to Oslo and one of the best supported teams in Norway.

“I got myself a small place because I won’t be here for long,” the big man backed himself.

Fifteen goals and two assists in 15 appearances in the current season installed him firmly on the transfer shop window.

Clubs across Europe like Werder Bremen from the Bundesliga as well as several English Championship teams flew into Norway’s capital city to take a closer look at the hottest striker in the land.

“There were many interested clubs, some of them I didn’t even know about their interest,” he admitted.

Union St.Gilloise in the Belgian Jupiler Pro League looked a most logical destination for the red-hot striker, whose aerial power is up there with the best in the game.

The modest Brussels club had transferred another young Nigerian striker, Victor Boniface, to Bayer Leverkusen in the Bundesliga for a huge profit after just a season.

Victor Boniface and Akor share the same agent, Atta Aneke, and so a transfer to that address in Belgium was just a matter of time.

Belgian club OH Leuven tabled a formal bid for the player, but they failed to meet up the valuation of Lillestrom.

“God took another turn higher,” devout Christian Akor said in reference to his switch to the French Ligue 1 with Montpellier.

Super Eagles stars Latifu, Anthony Ujah and Taiwo Awoniyi, who has mentored this beast of a centre-forward, celebrated the transfer on their socials.

At 5.5 Million Euros, he is the biggest ever outgoing transfer by Lillestrom.

Sports director Simon Mesfin was never in doubt that would be the case.

“The transfer (of Akor) to the French top league club Montpellier is by far the largest in Lillestrøm Sportsklubb’s history,” a proud Mesfin said in an official statement.

“He will go down in LSK history as one of the very best strikers we have had in the club. 

“It is also reflected in the transfer fee, which is at a level we have never been close to before. 

“Here, there are also no investors or former clubs who will have a large share of the transfer fee, so we are left with a historically large amount of money – which will ensure the sporting investment for several years.”

Akor has partly fulfilled the promise he had first shown in 2018, when he lifted Sogndal to a first-ever Norway Youth Cup triumph thanks to his hat-trick against ‘The Manchester United of Norway’ Rosenborg in the final.

“Akor Adams is a complete player, very physical who likes to impose himself in the air and who never backs out of a challenge. He likes to be found around the goal especially on corners and free kicks,” analysed NordiskNorvege

“He is a great signing. He will not be intimidated by the physicality of Ligue 1. He should not take long to adapt and if he is well supported particularly from the wings, he can cause havoc.”  

The first steps to Europe for ‘Air Akor’ were taken at a scouting tournament organised by Atta Aneke in 2017 at the Area 3 Sports Ground in Abuja.

He was literally on fire in a game watched by his father and older brother.

The striker was not yet 18 when he tried out with Norwegian club Stromgodset, before he headed to Sogndal, who eventually signed him on a free loan that summer.

His father, a long-time teacher who rose to head the Federal Government College, Apo, Abuja, wanted Akor to major in engineering at the university.

He started out at neigbourhood team Netshakers in Minna, where he was born and where his family still resides, before he turned out for Jamba Academy in Kaduna.

Enter ‘The Super Agent’ Atta Aneke to wave his magic wand and this weekend ‘Air Akor’ is in line to make his Ligue 1 debut against Le Havre.

Akor is on top of the game and he wants to keep shooting for the stars.