In the late 90s, Abbey Adeyemi left Ibadan, Nigeria, for Germany with nothing but his skills and dreams. The dream was to become a professional footballer, and Germany beckons with such allure. But age was against him. He was in his late twenties and football clubs hardly invest in such players; there was also racism, which made what was already difficult an impossibility. So, the dream went the way of flames.
Being unable to secure a football club, he turned to menial jobs. He met Alexander, another immigrant from Romania, and bonding over shared experiences in a land where they had hoped for much but gotten so little, they fell in love and Karim was born.
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Karim Adeyemi was born in the year 2002 to Abbey and Alexander. A wunderkind, he began playing for Kingenbeck Realschule at the age of six. Dazzled by his skills and talents, he was signed by the Bayern Youth Academy. This is where his story is supposed to get better, but no, for, though his talents were obvious on the pitch, he couldn’t fit in the system at Bayern, where priority is placed on collective efforts rather than individual talents. He also struggled
with other off-field activities. With no support and encouragement from the academy, he was released by the Bayern Youth Academy in 2012.
This devastating period could have been the end of Adeyemi’s career. Only a few young
players ever made it back on track if rejected by a prestigious club like Bayern. But Karim was no ordinary child. He had the grit and perseverance of his immigrant parents, a relentless hope and belief that swallow challenges as they come. And so, Karim was loved and supported through this period, while being trained at home by his father. The flame of dreams was again, fanned to live.
In the year 2021, he was signed by Spielvereinigung Unterahaching, where he was mentored and groomed to fulfil his potential. And from there, his storied journey began once again. Karim progressed through the youth department of Spielvereinigung Unterahaching, and in March 2018, he made his debut for the U19 team in the A-Junioren-Bundesliga. A month later, he scored his first goal for the team.
Although he suffered relegation with the team, his talent couldn’t be obscured. He was signed by FC Red Bull Salzburg before the 2018/19 season, where went on to set and break records and win awards. He won the Fritz-Walter Medaille in 2019; he was the 2021 Bundesliga B Top Goalscorer and also Player of the Season; he won the Austrian Bundesliga with FC Red Bull Salzburg and also helped the team to two consecutive Austrian Cup. He won the U21 Euro Championship with Germany and emerged winner of the 2021 Golden Boy Awards. He was the first German player in the Austrian Bundesliga to earn a national team call-up, and he scored on his debut. In 2022, he earned a record deal move worth $33 million to the German
top club, Borussia Dortmund.
