Soccer
Ola Aina is under pressure from Joao Palhinha and Adama Traore during the Premier League match between Nottingham Forest and Fulham Copyright: IMAGOxMIxNewsx
Super Eagles defender Ola Aina has admitted holding a grudge against Fulham attacker Adama Traore for seven years, Soccernet.ng reports.
Aina has established himself as one of the top right-backs in the world over the last 18 months, becoming one of the best performers at Nottingham Forest.
The Super Eagles star is exceptionally fast, great in 1v1 situations, and offers a lot of attacking impetus in the final third. However, his game has taken years to polish.
Before his current stint at Nottingham Forest, Aina had a pretty nomadic career. A product of the Chelsea academy, he struggled to cut it at the club and had to go on multiple loan spells before eventually being sold to Torino for €9.8 million in 2019.
The 29-year-old right-back had a season-long loan stint at Hull City in the 2017/18 season, where he was a regular, featuring in 44 English Championship games. But during his time there, he made an enemy — Traore.
In a recent interview, Ola Aina recounted how he started holding a grudge because Spanish forward Adama Traore dribbled past him in a 2018 Championship fixture involving Hull City and Middlesbrough, which ended 3-1 in the latter’s favor.
Traore, who was at Middlesbrough at the time, basically roasted Aina in that fixture, and that left an indelible mark on him.
The Super Eagles star admitted that he only settled his grudge against Traore last season after besting him in a Premier League game between Nottingham Forest and Fulham.
“When I was at Hull, he was at Middlesbrough, and he embarrassed me,” Aina said on the Beast Mode Podcast.
“I know I’m quick, so he was on the halfway line, I went towards him, he got the ball, knocked it behind me and ran off. I was like ‘oh my days’. That was in 2019, and I promise you I held a grudge.
“I’ve told this story to all my boys like Alex (Iwobi), I held a grudge. From 2019, I hadn’t played him until last season when we played him at home.
“When I saw him last season, I said ‘yeah, you’ll see today, I’ll show you’. I was on to him in that game, he will tell you. Then after the game, I told myself, ‘grudge gone’
“He didn’t even start that game. I took care of the winger that played that wing, then Marco Silva replaced him with Traore for like 25 minutes.
“That was the day I had been waiting, I didn’t let this guy rest. But now that grudge is gone.”
It has been eight years since then, and Aina has become one of the best defenders in the English Premier League.
The Super Eagles star spent the last three months recovering from a hamstring injury, but he returned to action at the start of the year.
Nottingham Forest are struggling badly this season, as they sit 17th on the table despite investing heavily on the squad last summer.
Aina will be looking to boost his side as they look to return to their best in the second half of the campaign.
Kelvin Omachonu
Kelvin Omachonu is a professional football columnist and sports writer with over half a decade of experience covering major events and delivering captivating, analytically-driven stories.
A graduate of the University of Ibadan, he is fueled by a profound dedication to sports journalism and the beautiful game. His insights have previously been featured in respected outlets, including IndyPress UI, UCJ UI Newshive NG, and Sportspremi.
Away from work, Kelvin is an avid fan of basketball, enjoys a great movie, and is always discovering new music.
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