Jamilu Collins (born 5 August 1994) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a left-back for the Nigeria national team.
Born in Kaduna, Collins spent his youth years with Abuja Football College Academy. He was one of several players who moved from Abuja to the HNK Rijeka youth team in mid-2012.[2] In October 2012, Collins signed his first professional contract with HNK Rijeka.
In August 2013, he was loaned to NK Pomorac in Druga HNL, where he collected 29 caps. In the following season, he played for HNK Rijeka's reserve side in Croatia's Treća HNL, where he was capped on 24 occasions.[3] In May 2015, he signed a new one-year contract with the club, with an option to extend it for an additional year.[4]
In June 2015, Rijeka sent Collins on loan to NK Krka in the Slovenian PrvaLiga, where he made 13 appearances before returning to Rijeka in January 2016.[5] The following month, Collins was loaned to HNK Šibenik in Druga HNL, where he was a regular starter. Following return from the loan, Rijeka extended Collins' contract until June 2017. He was immediately loaned to fellow Prva HNL club NK Istra 1961.[6]
On 6 September 2017, free agent Collins joined 3. Liga side SC Paderborn 07 on a two-year contract following trials at the club.[7] He scored his first goal for the club two years later with a 35-yard shot against Bayern Munich in a 3-2 defeat.[8]
On 20 May 2022, Collins signed for EFL Championship team Cardiff City.[9] Collins said “I’m really excited to be in Cardiff, and I can’t wait to get started. The Club has great history, and when I got the call to come to Cardiff, I was so excited, I couldn’t resist. I’m looking forward to the challenge of the new season. The goal is to fight for the Premier League. I can’t wait to meet the supporters and to fight for the jersey."
On 7 June 2024, the club announced it had extended the player's contract.[10] Collins left the club at the end of the 2024–2025 season.
Collins received his first call-up to the Nigeria national team for an Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against Seychelles on 11 September 2018.[11] He made his debut a day later in a friendly against Liberia.[12][13] Coach Gernot Rohr handed the 24-year-old his competitive debut in the next Afcon qualifying fixture against Libya in Uyo.[14] Nigeria defeated the visitors 4–0 and the left-back came close to marking his Super Eagles debut with a goal.[15] He featured in the reverse fixture in Sfax, Tunisia, which ended in a 3–2 victory for Nigeria to top Group E.
On 25 December 2021, he was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by Caretaker Coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-man Nigeria squad.[16]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | League Cup | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Rijeka | 2013–14 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2014–15 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2015–16 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| 2016–17 | 1. HNL | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
| Total | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||
| Pomorac (loan) | 2013–14 | 2. HNL | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 0 | ||
| Rijeka II | 2014–15 | 3. HNL | 24 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 0 | |||
| Krka (loan) | 2015–16 | Slovenian PrvaLiga | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Šibenik (loan) | 2015–16 | 2. HNL | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 0 | ||
| Istra 1961 (loan) | 2016–17 | 1. HNL | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 0 | ||
| Šibenik (loan) | 2016–17 | 2. HNL | 12 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 2 | ||
| SC Paderborn | 2017–18 | 3. Liga | 19 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 20 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19 | 2. Bundesliga | 34 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | Bundesliga | 30 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 32 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21 | 2. Bundesliga | 24 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 25 | 0 | |||
| 2021–22 | 2. Bundesliga | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 21 | 1 | |||
| Total | 127 | 2 | 9 | 0 | — | — | 136 | 2 | ||||
| Cardiff City | 2022–23 | EFL Championship | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | |
| 2023–24 | EFL Championship | 36 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 37 | 1 | ||
| 2024–25 | EFL Championship | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | ||
| Total | 43 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 44 | 1 | ||
| Career total | 273 | 5 | 12 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 286 | 5 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nigeria | 2018 | 4 | 0 |
| 2019 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 29 | 0 | |
Nigeria squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
