Victor Anichebe

Victor Chinedu Anichebe (born 23 April 1988) is a Nigerian former professional footballer who played as a forward.

Anichebe was born in Lagos, Lagos State, Nigeria but moved to Liverpool, Merseyside, England aged one.

His family originally lived in Toxteth before settling in Crosby.

He is the cousin of former professional football player Iffy Onuora, Olympian Anyika Onuora and professional basketball player Chiz Onuora.

He was awarded Everton's Reserve Player of the Season for the 2005–06 season.

Anichebe made his reserve-team debut for Everton as a 15-year-old and his first-team debut less than two years later on 27 February 2006, as a substitute in the 89th minute of Everton's FA Cup fourth round tie against Chelsea, replacing Simon Davies.

He signed his first professional contract with Everton, a two-year deal, in April 2006.

On 7 May 2006, he scored his first Premier League goal, against West Bromwich Albion.

Anichebe scored his first two Premier League goals of the 2006–07 campaign in a 3–0 win against Newcastle United on 30 December 2006.

His contract was extended by four years towards the end of the season as Everton qualified for the UEFA Cup.

In the UEFA Cup, Anichebe scored four times, against Metalist Kharkiv, AEL, 1. FC Nürnberg and Brann of Norway after coming on as a late second-half substitute in many of the matches.

At the end of the season, he was voted by Everton fans as their Young Player of the Season.

He is also an Olympic silver medallist, competing for Nigeria in the 2008 Olympics.

In March 2009, Anichebe received an apology from Cheshire Police when he was confronted for looking in a jeweller's window in Knutsford and his friend Lee Peltier of Liverpool handcuffed.

Anichebe was on crutches due to injury at the time, and believed that the police took action because the pair are black.

On 22 February 2009, in a match against Newcastle United, a tackle from Kevin Nolan left Anichebe and unable to play for 11 months.

Nolan, who received a straight red card for the foul, later settled out of court when Anichebe sued for loss of earnings.

He returned to first team action in January 2010 in a 2–0 victory over Sunderland.

His first goal on rejoining the squad came two months later in a 2–2 draw with Birmingham City.

In January 2011, he signed a new four-and-a-half-year contract with Everton, along with teammate Séamus Coleman.

Anichebe suffered a groin injury while on international duty in September and did not play for the rest of 2011.

He made his return as a second-half substitute on 1 January 2012, against West Bromwich Albion and scored in the 87th minute to give Everton a 1–0 away win.

He continued his comeback by coming off the bench to score the equaliser in a 1–1 with Aston Villa on 14 January.

Anichebe continued his goalscoring form by scoring his third goal of the season as a substitute in a 1–1 with Wigan Athletic on 4 February.

His appearance also meant he became Everton's most used substitute in the history of the club, breaking Duncan Ferguson's old record of 82.

In his first Premier League start of the 2012–13 season, Anichebe scored the opening goal in a 3–0 win over Swansea City with a left-footed effort from close in.

He then missed a number of games due to an hamstring injury, but returned in December to score a header to level the match against West Ham United at 1–1.

Everton went on to win 2–1.

He provided two assists during the festive season before scoring the winner against Newcastle United on 2 January 2013.

In February, Anichebe scored his first goal in the FA Cup of his Everton career against Oldham Athletic in a match which ended 2–2.

In the second half of the season, he was used as Everton's main striker due to his impressive displays and the drop in form of Nikica Jelavić.

In late March, Anichebe said he wanted to finish the season with a goal tally in double figures, but he finished with 8 goals from 32 matches, still the most he has scored in a single season in his career.

On 2 September 2013, Anichebe transferred to West Bromwich Albion in a deal which could rise to £6 million.

On 2 February, Anichebe scored his second league goal against Liverpool to earn West Brom a point.

On 11 February, he came on as a substitute and scored against Chelsea to earn West Brom a point.

On 18 May 2016, it was announced Anichebe and Stéphane Sessègnon would leave West Brom at the end of the 2015–16 season.

On 2 September 2016, Anichebe signed a one-year contract with Sunderland to play under manager David Moyes, the club's ninth signing of the summer.

His first goal for the club came on 5 November 2016, when he scored in a 2–1 win against AFC Bournemouth, as Sunderland came from behind—with ten men—to secure their first win of the 2016–17 Premier League season.

He followed that up in the next match, on 19 November 2016, when he scored two goals in a 3–0 home win against Hull City.

His performances in November earned him a nomination for the PFA Fans Player of the Month award.