Despite having an injury-hampered first season back in the Premier League in England, right back Olaoluwa Aina was a superb signing for Nottingham Forest on a free from Italian Serie A club Torino.
IT WAS OLA AINA WITH A LOVELY FINISH FOR THE EARLY OPENER!!!
— Football Report (@FootballReprt) November 5, 2023
HARRY TOFFOLO WITH THE ASSIST!
ANTHONY ELANGA 🇸🇪(2002) WITH A GREAT PLAY IN THE BUILDUP!!!pic.twitter.com/rrjOYfeIR2
For the Super Eagles, Aina had a terrific campaign at the AFCON in Cote d’Ivoire being a major part of the defensive stability that took the Eagles all the way to the championship game.
The 27-year-old played almost every minute of the AFCON all the way to the final, accumulating a total of 632 out of 640 minutes.
‘Mr Lulu’ played at right back, and sometimes had to deputise at left back for the injured Zaidu Sanusi.
He endured some injury concerns at the AFCON and that seem to tell on him by the time the Super Eagles took on hosts Cote d’Ivoire in the final.
After the AFCON, Ola Aina had to go through injury, missing four league games on the bounce, and even Nottingham Forest’s last game of the season.
Per 90 minutes, Aina had an average of 1.96 goals conceded (37 goals in 22 games) and 9% of clean sheets, with 0.16 bookings and 33.02 passes.
Forest kept just two clean sheets and conceded 37 times with 46 minutes per goal conceded whenever Ola Aina was in the setup.
He also won 110 ground duels out of 176 attempted, 15 aerial duels, made 44 tackles and 17 interceptions, also making 41 clearances whereas he was only dribbled past 12 times last season.
Despite playing majorly as a fullback, Ola Aina was poor offensively, making just one assist out of 27 crosses (7 successful) but had 499 passes successful out of 624 with an excellent completion rate of 79.97%.
Despite his poor form last season, Ola was exceptional discipline-wise as he only accumulated three yellow cards and one red, with 567 minutes per booking.
He committed just 18 fouls and was fouled 25 times last season.
The Trojan in defence for the Super Eagles and Nottingham Forest’s pillar was rewarded with a one-year contract extension at the end of the season, to the joy of the Forest supporters like Jackie Tattersall and Alex Croxall from the UK, who said: “Awesome. He’s a very promising player. Get him for longer. Great player who’s dangerous going forward.”
