Asaad Babiker
Asaad Babiker is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a winger for Ykkösliiga club FC Lahti.
Club career
Born in Cairo, Egypt, Babiker is of Sudanese descent. He immigrated to Finland as a child, and following pressure from a school classmate, joined the academy of Reipas Lahti at the age of eleven. In 2021, he signed his first contract with the club's parent side, Lahti, allowing him to represent both teams in official competitions. In February of the same year, he made his professional debut, coming on as a late second-half substitute for Lassi Forss in a 1–1 Finnish Cup draw with HJK Helsinki on 6 February.In his first season, he featured predominantly for Reipas in the third-tier Kakkonen, scoring four goals, including a brace against KuFu-98 in August. The following year he failed to feature for Lahti, despite scoring eight goals in twenty-two Kakkonen appearances for Reipas.
He returned to Lahti's first team again on 28 January 2023, coming on as a second-half substitute for Daniel Koskipalo in a Finnish League Cup game, as Lahti lost 2–0 to Honka. His prolific goal-scoring form for Reipas continued, as he scored another brace in a 3–1 win against Tikkurilan Palloseura on 26 August.
On 25 January 2024, Babiker signed a new professional contract with FC Lahti first team for the 2024 season. He debuted in Veikkausliiga on 6 April 2024 in the opening game of the 2024 season against Ilves, as a substitute to Luke Ivanovic.