Nwankwo Christian Kanu (; born 1 August 1976) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward. A member of the Arsenal 'Invincibles', he was named by the club as one of its greatest ever players. Kanu is widely considered one of the greatest African footballers of all time.
He was a member of the Nigeria national team, and played for Iwuanyanwu Nationale in his native Nigeria. Kanu also played for Ajax and Inter Milan before spending the rest of his career in England, playing for Arsenal, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth.
Kanu won a UEFA Champions League medal, an Intercontinental Cup, two Premier League titles, three Eredivisie, three FA Cup medals and two African Player of the Year awards amongst others. He is one of few players to have won the Premier League, FA Cup, Champions League, and an Olympic gold medal.
He is also a UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador, and African brand ambassador for digital TV operator StarTimes.
Nwankwo Christian Kanu was born on 1 August 1976 in Owerri, Imo State.
Kanu began his career at local side Federation Works before moving to Iwuanyanwu Nationale. After a notable performance in Nigeria's victorious U-17 World Championship campaign, he was signed by Dutch giants Ajax in 1993 for an undisclosed fee. He made his Ajax debut that year and went on to score 25 goals in 54 appearances. Kanu also came on as a sub in Ajax's 1995 UEFA Champions League final 1–0 win over AC Milan. The next year, Ajax reached the final again, but lost to Juventus on penalties. Kanu started and played the entirety of that match.
In 1996, Ajax sold Kanu to Serie A side Inter Milan for around $4.7 million. That summer he captained the Nigeria national team that won gold at the Olympics, and scored two late goals in the semi-finals against powerhouses Brazil to overturn a 2–3 scoreline into a 4–3 win in extra time. Kanu was also named African Footballer of the Year for that year.
However, soon after returning from the Olympics, Kanu underwent a medical examination at Inter, which revealed a serious heart defect, and it was believed by doctors that his career was over.
Inter could have resolved the contract for not having passed the medical test, but instead Inter president Massimo Moratti decided to keep the player and paid for the risky operation in the best clinic for chirurgical heart operations in Cleveland to replace an aortic valve caused by an innate malformation.
He underwent successful surgery in November and did not return to his club until April 1997. In interviews, Kanu frequently cites his faith as a Christian, and to be grateful to Moratti, he has often mentioned this trying time of his career as an occasion when he prayed to God. Kanu's experience also led to his founding the Kanu Heart Foundation, an organisation that helps predominantly young African children who suffer heart defects and whose work was expanded to provide aid for homeless children in 2008.
In February 1999, after just twelve league games and one goal for Inter, Kanu was signed by Arsenal for approximately £4.15 million. He made his debut for Arsenal, against Sheffield United in the FA Cup. With the score 1–1 and ten minutes to go, the Sheffield United goalkeeper Alan Kelly kicked the ball out of touch so that treatment could be given to Lee Morris. When the ball was thrown back into play by Ray Parlour, although it was intended for Kelly, Kanu chased the throw-in down the right wing unchallenged and centered the ball for Marc Overmars, who scored to make the match 2–1. After the match, Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger accepted that it was not correct sportsmanship and offered to re-play the match which was again won by Arsenal.
Despite the events overshadowing his debut, Kanu's career was quickly revived at Arsenal. He scored his first goal for the club in the next round of the cup against Derby County, coming off the bench to net the only goal of the game. He quickly became known for his goal scoring prowess from the bench, scoring important goals against Sheffield Wednesday, Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa as a substitute. He became very popular among the fans for his two-fingered salute which started in 1999 against Middlesbrough – something that he later explained was based on the team's nickname, The Gunners.
Kanu was named African Footballer of the Year for the second time in 1999. In the 1999–2000 season, he scored 17 times in 50 matches for the Gunners, including a hat-trick in fifteen minutes against Chelsea in October 1999 to turn a 2–0 deficit into a 3–2 victory. In August 2001, Arsenal rejected a bid from Fulham of around £7m for Kanu. However, Kanu's appearances for Arsenal gradually became less frequent, particularly after the emergence of Thierry Henry as Arsenal's first choice striker with Kanu being mainly used as a substitute. Kanu then won the 2003 FA Cup with Arsenal. Along with other famous players, such as Henry and Robert Pires, Kanu is a member of the "Invincibles", the Arsenal side that finished the 2003–04 season of the Premier League undefeated. He played 197 games for Arsenal, scoring 44 goals. In the summer of 2004, after his contract with Arsenal ended, he moved to West Bromwich Albion on a free transfer. In 2008, Kanu was voted 13th in the "Gunners' Greatest 50 Players" poll.
In the summer of 2006, Kanu played as a guest for Arsenal in Dennis Bergkamp's testimonial game, the first match to be played in Arsenal's new Emirates Stadium. The game was tied 1–1 when Kanu scored the winning goal, making him the third person to score in the stadium. At the end of the match, Kanu joined the rest of the Arsenal side in hoisting the retired Dutchman on their shoulders as fans gave him a standing ovation.
He remains a popular figure at Arsenal, being applauded when he appears at the Emirates Stadium. During his time with the club, he wore the number 25 shirt.
West Bromwich Albion had just been promoted to the Premier League for the second time in the space of two years. Kanu started as a regular for the club, making his debut in a 1–1 draw away at Blackburn Rovers on 14 August 2004. He scored his first goal for Albion on 18 September 2004, an 88th-minute equalizer in a 1–1 home draw against Fulham. In a match against Middlesbrough on 14 November 2004, Kanu was guilty of an incredible miss in injury time, with Albion 2–1 down. Kanu had sent a low cross over the bar from a yard away from the goal line. Manager Bryan Robson was seen in TV footage mouthing the words "How did he miss that?", and Kanu's howler was crowned "Miss of the Season" by many media outlets in their end-of-season reviews. Nevertheless, the 2004–05 season was ultimately a memorable one for West Bromwich Albion, as they became the first club to avoid relegation from the Premier League after being bottom of the table at Christmas.
One of the most memorable games of the 2005–06 season for Kanu came with the visit of his former club Arsenal to The Hawthorns on 15 October 2005. Philippe Senderos put the visitors ahead in the 17th minute, but Kanu equalised shortly before half time. West Brom went on to win the match 2–1 with a spectacular strike from Darren Carter. It was their first home win over Arsenal since 1973, and the first time that they had come from behind to win a Premier League game. But such highlights were rare for Albion that season, and the club was relegated at the end of 2005–06. Kanu's contract had expired, and he chose not to renew it. In his two years at The Hawthorns he made a total of 58 appearances – 16 of them as a substitute – and scored nine goals.
Kanu was a free agent following his departure from West Brom, and he signed for Portsmouth on a one-year deal shortly before the start of the 2006–07 season. Pompey had undergone a revival in the second half of the previous campaign, following the return of Harry Redknapp as manager, avoiding relegation by four points after being in serious danger at the turn of the year. At the start of the 2006–07 season, they were undefeated in their first five games, during which they did not concede a single goal. Kanu made his debut for Portsmouth as a substitute against Blackburn Rovers on 19 August 2006, the opening day of the 2006–07 Premier League season. He scored twice and missed a penalty. Kanu went on to finish the season as the top goal scorer for Portsmouth, with 12 goals altogether. He then signed a new one-year deal with the club.