Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina is a professional footballer who plays as a right back for Premier League club Chelsea and the Nigerian Super Eagles team.
Born on October 8, 1996 in London Borough of Southwark, United Kingdom, Ola Aina signed for Chelsea as an under-11 and made his youth team debut as a schoolboy in the 2012–13 season. After that he 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.
Aina made his first team debut on 19 July 2014 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. 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.
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. Aina refused a new contract due to lack of first-team opportunities, despite his current contact ending at the end of the season.
On 6 July 2016, he signed a new four-year contract after which he 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. 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.
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On 11 July 2017, Chelsea announced Aina’s loan to Championship side Hull City. He made his debut on the opening day of the season, away to Aston Villa, in a 1–1 draw. 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.
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Aina has played for England at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 and England under-20 levels. 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. In the same month, he was called up for the first time to play for Nigeria.
In May 2018 he was named in Nigeria’s preliminary 30 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia. However, he did not make the final 23.
