26-year-old midfielder Yannick Yankam joins the club after most recently playing for Birkirkara FC in the Maltese Premier League, the top flight of football in the European country of Malta.
Born in the city of Qormi, Malta, the attacking midfielder started his career in his hometown, joining Qormi FC’s U19 team. Qormi FC currently participates in the Maltese National Amateur League, the third tier of football in Malta.
In 2018 he was promoted to the main squad of Qormi FC, where he met former Lexington SC midfielder Seo-in “Soso” Kim.
After one year with the first team he moved to Birkirkara, jumping up two levels on the Maltese pyramid to the top flight, and joined Birkirkara FC – four-time Maltese Premier League champions, six-time Maltese FA Trophy winners and seven-time Maltese Super Cup champions.
Since his arrival, Birkirkara have not finished below fifth in the league – which has ranged from 12-16 teams every year – and even finished as runner’s up last season (2022-23) to nine-time champions Hamrun Spartans.
The spot in the top four earned the club the opportunity to enter the qualification rounds for the Europa Conference League – the third tier of continental competition in European football – where it was defeated by Slovenian club Maribor. Yankam found the net from the penalty spot in the second leg, but the club was eliminated 3-2 on aggregate.
Yankam has also been capped as a member of the Malta National Team, making his debut and finding the net in a 2-1 defeat against North Macedonia in the UEFA European Championship – dubbed the “Euros” – qualifying rounds. Malta was in a group with England, Italy, Ukraine and North Macedonia.
Head Coach Darren Powell
“Yannick is a player we are looking forward to joining us. He has top level experience from his recent international games playing against teams such as England Italy and Ukraine while performing well,” said head coach Darren Powell. “He is a box to box midfielder that has presence on the field. In possession his movement and positive runs place him in very good positions where he impacts the game. Out of possession he can track players down and recover the ball to initiate attacks. Yannick will be an asset that through his experiences will help the team immediately.”
