Ola Aina

Ola Aina

Aina with Chelsea in 2016
Personal information
Full name	Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina [1]
Date of birth	(1996-10-08) 8 October 1996 (age 27) [2]
Place of birth	Southwark, London, England
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [3]
Position(s)	Full-back
Team information
Current team	Nottingham Forest
Number	43
Youth career
2007–2015	Chelsea
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2019	Chelsea	3	(0)
2017–2018	→ Hull City (loan)	44	(0)
2018–2019	→ Torino (loan)	30	(1)
2019–2023	Torino	72	(1)
2020–2021	→ Fulham (loan)	31	(2)
2023–	Nottingham Forest	16	(1)
International career‡
2011–2012	England U16	6	(0)
2012–2013	England U17	11	(0)
2013	England U18	1	(0)
2013–2015	England U19	13	(0)
2015–2016	England U20	4	(0)
2017–	Nigeria	40	(0)
Medal record Representing   Nigeria Africa Cup of Nations Runner-up 2023 Ivory Coast 2019 Egypt
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13:35, 22 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23:57, 11 February 2024 (UTC)

Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa "Ola" Aina MON (born 8 October 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a full-back for Premier League club Nottingham Forest. Born in England, he plays for the Nigeria national team.

Club career

Chelsea

Early career

Ola Aina signed for Chelsea as an under-11 and made his youth team debut as a schoolboy in the 2012–13 season and went on to start in both legs of the semi-final and final of the FA Youth Cup. In his youth career, he has also represented Chelsea in the under-18s, under-19s, and under-21 levels. ^[4] On 19 July 2014, Aina made his first-team debut in a pre-season friendly against AFC Wimbledon, after Todd Kane's injury. Aina started the match and was substituted at half-time for Branislav Ivanović as Chelsea went on to win 3–2. ^[5]

Before the 2015–16 season, he was included in the pre-season tour, playing three matches in the International Champions Cup. After impressing Chelsea manager José Mourinho, Aina was included in the first-team squad for the campaign. Although he spent the entire season training full-time with the first-team, he continued his role in the under-21s and under-19s sides. ^[4] On 23 September 2015, Aina was included in the match-day squad against Walsall in the fourth round of the League Cup, although he was an unused substitute. ^[6]

Due to a lack of first-team opportunities, Aina refused a new contract despite his current contact ending at the end of the season. ^[7]

2016–17 season

On 6 July 2016, he signed a new four-year contract, ending the rumours of him leaving the London side. ^[8] After signing a new contract, Aina was included in the travelling squad to Austria and the United States. He went on to play in all six pre-season matches. On 23 August 2016, Aina was given his professional debut by manager Antonio Conte in a 3–2 victory over Bristol Rovers in the EFL Cup, being replaced by John Terry in the 77th minute. ^[9] On 15 October 2016, he made his Premier League debut in a 3–0 victory over reigning champions Leicester City, replacing goalscorer Victor Moses in the 82nd minute. ^[10]

Loan to Hull City

On 11 July 2017, Chelsea announced that they had loaned Aina to Championship side Hull City. ^[11] He made his debut on the opening day of the season, 5 August 2017, away to Aston Villa, in a 1–1 draw. ^[12] He scored the only goal in a 1–0 defeat of Blackburn Rovers in the third-round of the FA Cup on 6 January 2018. ^[13]

Torino

On 14 August 2018, Aina joined Italian club Torino on a season-long loan after signing a new three-year deal with Chelsea. ^[14] He made his Serie A debut a few days later in Torino's 0–1 opening day defeat at home to Roma, coming on as a substitute in place of fellow right-back Lorenzo De Silvestri who went off injured after just 25 minutes. ^[15] Aina scored his first goal for Torino in a match against Udinese on 2 February 2019. ^[16] Aina made 30 Serie A appearances in what was a strong season for Il Toro, whose seventh place finish secured a Europa League qualifying spot. ^[17]

On 11 June 2019, Torino triggered Aina's option to permanently transfer from Chelsea for a reported fee of £9 million. ^[18] He was a regular again during his second season in Turin, playing 37 times in all competitions. ^[17]

2020–21 season: Loan to Fulham

On 11 September 2020, Aina returned to the Premier League, signing for Fulham on an initial season-long loan with an option to make the deal permanent. ^[17] On 2 November, Aina scored his first goal for the club, and in the Premier League, in a 2–0 home win over West Brom, shooting into the top-left corner from outside the penalty area. ^[19] The strike was later selected as the goal of the month by the Premier League. ^[20] Aina became the third Fulham player to win the Budweiser Goal of the Month award, after Jean Michaël Seri and André Schürrle both won the prize in 2018–19. ^[20]

Nottingham Forest

On 22 July 2023, following his release from Torino, Aina joined Nottingham Forest on a one year contract. ^[21] He made his debut for the club on 12 August in a 2–1 loss against Arsenal in the Premier League. ^[22]

On 5 November, Aina scored his first goal for Forest in a 2–0 win over Aston Villa at the City Ground. ^[23]

International career

England youth teams

Aina has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and England under-20 levels.

Nigeria

Aina with Nigeria

On 28 March 2017, Aina was pictured alongside Chuba Akpom of Arsenal after discussions with Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick. ^[24] In May 2017, Aina pledged his international future to Nigeria and obtained a Nigerian passport in preparation to making the switch from England to Nigeria. ^{[25] [26]} In the same month, he was called up for the first time to play for Nigeria. ^[27]

In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria's preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. ^[28] However, he did not make the final 23. ^[29] He was later recalled into the squad and played a major role in the team's qualification for the 2019 Africa Cup of Nations held in Egypt. He played the first match against tournament debutant Burundi, assisting the only goal of the match.

On 25 December 2021, He was shortlisted in 2021 AFCON Nations Cup by Caretaker Coach Eguavoen as part of the 28-Man Nigeria Squad. ^[30]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 21 April 2024 ^[31]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup [lower-alpha 1]		League cup [lower-alpha 2]		Europe		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Chelsea	2015–16	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	2016–17	Premier League	3	0	1	0	2	0	—		6	0
	Total		3	0	1	0	2	0	0	0	6	0
Hull City (loan)	2017–18	Championship	44	0	2	1	0	0	—		46	1
Torino (loan)	2018–19	Serie A	30	1	2	0	—		—		32	1
Torino	2019–20	Serie A	32	0	2	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 3]	0	37	0
	2021–22	Serie A	21	0	2	0	—		—		23	0
	2022–23	Serie A	19	1	2	0	—		—		21	1
	Total		102	2	8	0	0	0	3	0	113	2
Fulham (loan)	2020–21	Premier League	31	2	1	0	1	0	—		33	2
Nottingham Forest	2023–24	Premier League	16	1	0	0	0	0	—		16	1
Career total			196	5	12	1	3	0	3	0	214	6

1. Includes FA Cup, Coppa Italia
2. Includes EFL Cup
3. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 11 February 2024 ^[32]

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Nigeria	2017	3	0
	2018	4	0
	2019	10	0
	2020	1	0
	2021	3	0
	2022	9	0
	2023	3	0
	2024	7	0
Total		40	0

Personal life

Aina has a brother, Jordan, who is currently playing for Fulham Academy. ^[33]

Honours

Chelsea Youth ^[34]

• Barclays U21 Premier League: 2013–14
• FA Youth Cup: 2013–14, 2014–15
• UEFA Youth League: 2014–15, 2015–16

Nigeria

• Africa Cup of Nations runner-up: 2023 ^[35]

Individual

• Premier League Goal of the Month: November 2020 ^[36]
• Africa Cup of Nations Team of the Tournament: 2023 ^[37]

Orders

• Member of the Order of the Niger ^[38]

References

1. "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
2. "Ola Aina". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 20 July 2019.
3. "Ola Aina: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 6 March 2024.
4. "Ola Aina Chelsea Profile". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
5. "Match report: AFC Wimbledon 2 Chelsea 3". Chelsea F.C. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
6. "Walsall 1–4 Chelsea". BBC Sport. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
7. "Arsenal join transfer race to sign Chelsea's England Under-21 right-back Ola Aina". Daily Mirror . 11 January 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
8. "Aina seals new deal". Chelsea F.C. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
9. "Chelsea 3–2 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
10. "Chelsea 3–0 Leicester City". BBC Sport. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
11. "First loan for Aina". Chelsea Official Site. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
12. "Aston Villa 1–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
13. "Blackburn Rovers 0–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
14. "New contract and loan for Aina". Chelsea Official Site. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
15. "Fixtures and Results – Season 2018–19 – 1^ Match Day – Lega Serie A". www.legaseriea.it. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
16. "Torino vs. Udinese 1–0". Soccerway. 2 February 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
17. "Ola Aina joins on loan". Fulham. 11 September 2020.
18. "Torino confirm Ola Aina's permanent capture from Chelsea". Goal. 10 June 2019. Retrieved 11 September 2020.
19. "Fulham on the up after Ola Aina seals first win of season against West Brom". The Guardian. 2 November 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
20. "Aina earns Budweiser Goal of the Month award". Premier League. 13 December 2020. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
21. "Forest complete Aina signing". Nottingham Forest Football Club. 22 July 2023.
22. "Bukayo Saka's superb first-half strike helped Arsenal begin their Premier League campaign with a 2–1 win over Nottingham Forest on the opening weekend". 12 August 2023. Retrieved 13 August 2023.
23. "Forest end winless run with 2–0 defeat of top-four chasing Villa". Reuters. 6 November 2023.
24. Oludare, Shina (28 March 2017). "Chelsea's Ola Aina, Brighton and Hove Albion's Chuba Akpom pledge allegiance to Nigeria". Goal Nigeria. Retrieved 28 March 2017.
25. "NFF confirms Ola Aina, Joel Bazee now have Nigerian passports, Tammy Abraham to follow". 12 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
26. "NFF formally applies for Aina's int'l switch – Vanguard News". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
27. "Chelsea's Ola Aina gets Nigeria call". 8 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
28. Adewoye, Gbenga (6 June 2018). "'Maybe next time,' Ola Aina unruffled missing out in Nigeria World Cup Squad". Goal. Retrieved 25 July 2019.
29. "World Cup 2018: Arsenal's Iwobi in Nigeria's 23-man squad". BBC Sport. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
30. Football, CAF-Confedération Africaine du. "Eguavoen announces Nigeria final TotalEnergies AFCON squad". CAFOnline.com. Retrieved 11 January 2022.
31. Ola Aina at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
32. Ola Aina at National-Football-Teams.com
33. Georgiou, Ethan (9 March 2021). "A bit about: Jordan Aina". fulhamfc.com. Retrieved 9 March 2021.
34. "Ola Aina's Profile". Chelsea F.C. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
35. Stevens, Rob (11 February 2024). "Nigeria 1–2 Ivory Coast". BBC Sport. Retrieved 12 February 2024.
36. "Aina wins November Budweiser Goal of the Month award". Premier League. 11 December 2020. Retrieved 11 December 2020.
37. "CAF TSG Group releases TotalEnergies CAF Africa Cup of Nation Cote d'Ivoire 2023 Best XI". CAF Online. Confederation of African Football. 14 February 2024. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 14 February 2024.
38. "Afcon: Ivory Coast and Nigeria players get cash, villas and honours". BBC News . 13 February 2024. Retrieved 24 February 2024.

External links

• Profile at the Nottingham Forest F.C. website
• England profile at The FA
• Ola Aina at Soccerbase
• Ola Aina – UEFA competition record ( archive )