Nigerian born midfielder
Dickson Etuhu began his career at Manchester City making 13 appearances
for the Maine Road outfit. At 6ft2 and 13stone, he is a tall combative
player capable of running from box to box for 90minutes.
He left Manchester
City in January 2002 at the urging of his agent who was advising
him to seek better terms and conditions. Although courted by Millwall,
he joined Preston in a deal that would be worth up to £1million
for Manchester City.
Nigel
Worthington first made enquiries about Etuhu at the end of
the 2004/5 season in order to replace the disenchanted Damien
Francis. Interest from Everton and Southampton in the summer
of 2005 stopped Etuhu investigating the claims of the Carrow Road
set-up but in early November 2005, Dickson signed for the Canaries
on a two month loan with the understanding that it would become
a permanent transfer in the January 2006 transfer-window. Dickson
made his debut for Norwich on 19th November 2005 in the 2-0 home
win over Luton.
Dickson signed permanently
for Norwich on 3rd January 2006 for £450,000 despite interest
from Southampton
On 25th May 2006, Dickson
was reported by the media to be a £600,000 target for Sheffield
Wednesday boss Paul Sturrock. I would be delighted to bring
him to the club, but I believe he could cost a transfer fee of
around £600,000 and that money is beyond us, said
Sturrock.
In March 2007, Dickson
was linked with a move to Middlesboro although Sunderland boss
Roy Keane was also said to be interested in him. Reports on 15th
and 16th July 2007 suggested that Dickson was completing a £1.5million
transfer to Sunderland. This was finalised on 17th July 2007 with
the Black Cats exploiting a get out clause in Etuhu's contract.
Dickson signed a four year contract with Sunderland. Keane said
he was delighted to secure the services of the former Preston
man. "I'm very pleased that Dickson has signed.
He will add competition to our squad and give us a real physical
presence. He's a big, strong player who can also get a goal."
Etuhu made his full debut for Nigeria in October 2007 in a 2-2
draw with Mexico. He then played in the African Cup of Nations
2008 in Ghana, making 2 appearances as the disappointing Nigerians
reached the quarter-finals. However Etuhu found it hard to break
back into the Sunderland side after this African adventure and
did not play after February 2008. Fulham manager Roy Hodgson is
said to be preparing a £2million bid for Etuhu's services.
Dickson's move to South London became a reality on 29th August
2008 with Etuhu signing a three eyar contract with the Cottagers
for an undisclosed fee.
After helping Fulham to the Europa League final in May 2010,
Dickson was included in Nigeria's World Cup squad for the finals
in South Africa.
Etuhu joined Blackburn Rovers on a four year contract on 3rd
August 2012 for an undisclosed fee, becoming Steve Kean's seventh
signing of the 2012 summer.
He was released by Rovers on !st July 2014 by mutual consent
having managed only 29 games in two seasons due to injuries.
On 23rd December 2014 it was announced that he was acquired by
the Swedish side AIK as a free agent on a two-year deal.
He retired from AIK and became an agent. In October 2017 he was questioned by the police for match fixing over the Gothenburg vs AIK in the Swedish Allsvenskan in May, which was postponed after AIK goalkeeper Kenny Stamatopoulos claimed that he had been offered £180,000 to “under-perform” in the game. Etuhu is understood to have denied all allegations against him.
On 6th August 2017, Etuhu signed a contract with Swedish 5th Division club IFK Rössjöholm
On 20th September 2018 he was charged with bribery after an 18-month investigation into match-fixing in Sweden as detailed above. Another player - Alban Jusufi - has also been charged. On 13th November 2019 he was found guilty of attempting to fx a match and was fined and to serve a time of probation but avoided a prison sentence. It was reported that he would be appealing his sentence.