Ola Aina

Ola Aina
Personal information
Full name Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina[1]
Date of birth (1996-10-08) 8 October 1996[2]
Place of birth Southwark, England
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Playing position Wing-back
Club information
Current team
 Torino
(on loan from Chelsea)
Number 34
Youth career
2007–2015 Chelsea
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015– Chelsea 3 (0)
2017–2018 → Hull City (loan) 44 (0)
2018– → Torino (loan) 4 (0)
National team‡
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 6 (0)
2017– Nigeria 5 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 18:31, 17 September 2018 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 20:42, 2 June 2018 (UTC)

Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa "Ola" Aina (born 8 October 1996) is a professional footballer who plays as a wing-back for Italian club Torino, on loan from English club Chelsea, and 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.[3] 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.[4]

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.[3] 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.[5]

Due to a lack of first-team opportunities, Aina refused a new contract despite his current contact ending at the end of the season.[6]

2016–17 season

On 6 July 2016, he signed a new four-year contract, ending the rumours of him leaving the London side.[7] 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.[8] 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.[9]

Loan to Hull City

On 11 July 2017, Chelsea announced that they had loaned Aina to Championship side Hull City.[10] He made his debut on the opening day of the season, 5 August 2017, away to Aston Villa, in a 1–1 draw.[11] 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.[12]

Loan to Torino

On 14 August 2018, Aina joined Italian club Torino on a season-long loan after signing a new three-year deal with Chelsea.[13] 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.[14]

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 against Argentina, Uzomedia

On 28 March 2017, Aina was pictured alongside Chuba Akpom of Arsenal after discussions with Nigeria Football Federation president, Amaju Pinnick.[15] 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.[16][17][18] In the same month, he was called up for the first time to play for Nigeria.[19]

In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[20] However, he did not make the final 23.[21]

Club statistics

As of 16 September 2018.[22]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Europe Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Chelsea 2015–16 Premier League 000000000000
2016–17 Premier League 301020——60
Total 301020000060
Hull City (loan) 2017–18 Championship 4402100——461
Torino (loan) 2018–19 Serie A 4000———40
Career total 51031200000561

    Honours

    Chelsea[23]

    References

    1. ↑ "Updated squads for 2017/18 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 2 February 2018. Retrieved 10 February 2018.
    2. 1 2 "Ola Aina". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 16 January 2016.
    3. 1 2 "Ola Aina Chelsea Profile". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
    4. ↑ "Match report: AFC Wimbledon 2 Chelsea 3". Chelsea F.C. 19 July 2014. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    5. ↑ "Walsall 1–4 Chelsea". BBC Sports. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    6. ↑ "Arsenal join transfer race to sign Chelsea's England Under-21 right-back Ola Aina". 11 January 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    7. ↑ "Aina seals new deal". Chelsea F.C. 6 July 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
    8. ↑ "Chelsea 3–2 Bristol Rovers". BBC Sport. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
    9. ↑ "Chelsea 3–0 Leicester City". BBC Sport. 15 October 2016. Retrieved 15 October 2016.
    10. ↑ "First loan for Aina". Chelsea Official Site. 11 July 2017. Retrieved 11 July 2017.
    11. ↑ "Aston Villa 1–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. BBC. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 5 August 2017.
    12. ↑ "Blackburn Rovers 0–1 Hull City". BBC Sport. BBC. 6 January 2018. Retrieved 6 January 2018.
    13. ↑ "New contract and loan for Aina". Chelsea Official Site. 14 August 2018. Retrieved 14 August 2018.
    14. ↑ "Fixtures and Results - Season 2018-19 - 1^ Match Day - Lega Serie A". www.legaseriea.it. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
    15. ↑ 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.
    16. ↑ "NFF confirms Ola Aina, Joel Bazee now have Nigerian passports, Tammy Abraham to follow". 12 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
    17. ↑ "NFF formally applies for Aina's int'l switch – Vanguard News". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
    18. ↑ "Chelsea's London-born starlet Ola Aina poised to snub England and play for Nigeria". 4 May 2017. Retrieved 15 May 2017.
    19. ↑ "Chelsea's Ola Aina gets Nigeria call". Retrieved 17 May 2017.
    20. ↑ "Revealed: Every World Cup 2018 squad - 23-man & preliminary lists & when will they be announced?". Goal.com. Retrieved 17 May 2018.
    21. ↑ "World Cup 2018: Arsenal's Iwobi in Nigeria's 23-man squad". BBC Sport. 3 June 2018. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
    22. ↑ Ola Aina at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 January 2017.
    23. ↑ "Ola Aina's Profile". Chelsea F.C. 23 August 2016. Retrieved 26 August 2016.
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