French side Stade de Reims have ended the transfer saga around Abdoulaye Agbejoye, confirming the signing of the highly rated Nigerian forward.
The 18-year-old was part of Nigeria’s U20 squad at the recently concluded WAFU B U20 tournament in Burkina Faso, and had drawn interest from several European clubs including Nottingham Forest, Brentford, Club Brugge, and a handful of sides in Norway. However, Reims, who have made a habit of picking up Nigerian talent, got there first.
Agbejoye arrives off the back of a standout season with Grassrunners FC’s academy, where he finished as both top scorer and best player in the Nigerian Youth League Cup.
Abdoulaye Agbejoye rejoint Reims Révélations ✍️
Formé au Grassrunners FC, le jeune avant-centre intègre le groupe Espoirs pour poursuivre sa progression.
Bienvenue dans la Cité des Sacres, Abdoulaye ❤️🤍
🗞️ https://t.co/LiOShCIOs0 pic.twitter.com/irW8jgzG5F
— Stade de Reims (@StadeDeReims) September 1, 2026
At 1.95 metres, he’ll bring size and a genuine goal-scoring instinct to Anthony Weber’s Espoirs (reserve) squad. He scored 19 goals in 19 matches last season for Grassrunners.
He follows countryman Godwin Itotomi, who made the same move from the Nigerian academy system a few weeks ago. Reims Révélations is expected to give him room to keep developing at a higher level.
The financial terms of the deal haven’t been made public, but according to a source at Grassrunners, money wasn’t the deciding factor.
“Money is not the motivation here for his move to France. There were other clubs that had better financial offers, but we have our eyes on the bigger picture,” the source said. “The player himself is happy to continue his development at a club that’s renowned for developing young talents. He had offers from England, Belgium, and Norway, but a lot has to be considered before a player can move.”
Nottingham Forest and Leverkusen target Nigeria U-20 Star Abdoulaye Agbejoye
“Abdoulaye is big, strong, has pace, and an eye for goal. He reminds me of Didier Drogba or Erling Haaland, and I have no doubt he can become like some of the strikers I mentioned. All he needs is a good place to develop — somewhere with no pressure, so he can grow and show what he can do. The boy will play for Nigeria before he turns 21, I’m sure of that. The nearest striker Nigeria have to him right now is Victor Osimhen. In fact, he’ll be our new Osimhen soon, given how similar they are,” the source added.
Agbejoye joins fellow Grassrunners product Raphael Godwin at the club and is set to begin life at Reims with the youth side, Reims Révélations, in the Régional 1 league.
