Nelson Ighodaro Abbey
Defender · Rio Ave FC · №6
Recent matches
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
Estoril
Rio Ave FC
Primeira Liga
|
0:2 | |
Rio Ave FC
FC Porto
Primeira Liga
|
0:2 | |
GIL Vicente
Rio Ave FC
Primeira Liga
|
1:0 | |
Rio Ave FC
Sporting CP
Primeira Liga
|
1:4 | |
|
Rio Ave FC
GIL Vicente
Primeira Liga
|
0:0 | |
Guimaraes
Rio Ave FC
Primeira Liga
|
2:0 | |
Rio Ave FC
AVS
Primeira Liga
|
2:2 | |
Santa Clara
Rio Ave FC
Primeira Liga
|
0:2 | |
Rio Ave FC
Alverca
Primeira Liga
|
1:2 | |
|
Estoril
Rio Ave FC
Primeira Liga
|
1:2 |
Season statistics
| Competition | Season | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Primeira Liga | 2025 | 12 |
| Primeira Liga | 2026 | 3 |
About the player
Nelson Ighodaro Abbey has been moved on by a club that owns him rather than by one that wanted him gone. Olympiacos sent the centre-back to Swansea City in August 2024, then recalled him on 3 January 2025 after a loan spell that produced a single appearance, in the FA Cup. Four days later he was in Portugal, on loan at Rio Ave with an obligation to buy.
Abbey played 10 matches in the second half of that season — eight in the Primeira Liga, two in the Taça de Portugal — and the transfer became permanent on 1 July 2025. In 2025/26 he has made 13 appearances, 12 of them in the league.
Between then and 2024 he made 31 first-team appearances in all competitions, 25 of them in the league, without scoring.
Abbey is eligible for Nigeria and the Netherlands through descent, but has represented England at youth level: three caps at under-17 in 2020, five at under-20 across 2023 and 2024.
