Nottingham Forest’s Ola Aina: ‘Kyle Walker said I was pretty quick but he was chilled about it’ | Nottingham Forest
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“Wellalthough this clip shows that I got over it, it wasn’t as easy as it might seem,” says Ola Aina. The Nottingham Forest defender recalls the moment during the defeat to Manchester City two weeks ago when he stood up and beat Kyle Walker in a tackle. It’s a feat not many players, including Kylian Mbappé, can claim to have matched in recent times and Aina says his phone has been ‘frantic’ since a tweet of the Premier League, which has amassed 22,000 likes, has gone viral.
“I remember when it happened, I saw it and thought, ‘I might as well just try’ – and I put everything into it,” says the 27-year-old Nigeria defender, who has made 19 starts for Forest since joining to a one-year deal from Torino last summer. “Then he said something like, ‘You’re pretty fast’ and ‘Caught me on my feet.’ But he was very cold about it. He has done the same with other players so many times.”
Aina was named the fastest player in Serie A during his first season in Italy after leaving Chelsea, who travel to the City Ground on Saturday to face a Forest side that could end the day with guaranteed status of the Premier League. Although he claims he can’t remember being timed over 100m since competing for his school in Romford in the 7th grade – the same age he joined Chelsea’s academy – he admits , that there is a history of success in another competition.
“Football has always been the number 1 thing for me, but I’ve always loved playing different sports,” says Aina. “I played rugby at school, mainly on the wing, but also tried center. I also did the long jump at school and represented Essex at the English schools. I think I won a few times.”
Records show that Aina jumped 6.54m in 2011 – the sixth best mark in English schools history at the time. However, he says he would prefer not to compete in the Premier League long jump. “I don’t think my knees can take it anymore!”
Aina’s eyes light up when his time at Chelsea’s academy is mentioned and he remains close friends with several players he came through the system with, including AC Milan’s Fikayo Tomori and Ruben Loftus-Cheek, Roma striker Tammy Abraham and Charlie Colkett of Crew.
“We went into games knowing we were going to win. Every game, whether it’s a friendly, FA Cup or youth Champions League. We were very close in age groups as well. It was strange [those born in] 1997, 96, 95. Proper closure. Everyone relaxed together outside the field. I felt like almost everyone was like a brother.”
But he has no regrets about the decision to go on loan to Torino at the age of 21 after being restricted to three Premier League appearances for Chelsea. “I don’t look at it that way. Things change all the time in football and I think I just missed that era of young players being given more of a chance and breaking through as often as we’ve seen in the last few years. But I feel things are meant to be and if I had to break through as a superstar then I would. I don’t look back on it with regret or animosity.”
Aina added: “I love playing against Chelsea and I still support them after being there for so many years. Everyone has their own opinion on how things are going for them, but it’s a new era and it’s not always easy to maintain that level of success.”
Aina moved to Torino permanently in 2019 and is rightly proud of the role that has turned out to be a trend-setter for young English players heading to Serie A. “At first I was a bit nervous to go there. But my loan went better than I expected – I loved the manager [Walter Mazzarri], the city and the team I was on. It was a bold move, but I felt it was a move that made sense to me. To see some of my close friends like Ficaio and Tami come to Italy after me is something I am proud of.
“I remember when Ficayo was deciding if he wanted to go to Milan and I told him straight up how it would be. It’s good to see how many players have done the same and if it doesn’t quite work in England then you can branch out.”
After captaining England at under-19 level, Aina switched allegiance to his parents’ homeland of Nigeria in 2017 and recalls attending his first training session with Crystal Palace’s Eberechi Eze, who has since played with England. Aina has 40 caps and was part of the side beaten in January’s Africa Cup of Nations final by Ivory Coast after the hosts were almost eliminated in the group stage before making a remarkable comeback.
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“It felt like we were fighting against fate,” says Aina. “You can feel the weight of Ivory Coast against us. There were some decisions that could have helped us but I’m not that kind of player – in the end they did enough to beat us and fair play to them. We are building this team from Afcon in 2019 when we came third with a really young team. Getting to the final was a progression that showed we were almost there.”
After being relegated while on loan at Fulham for the 2020-21 season, Aina couldn’t resist the lure of the Premier League when Forest came calling. Primarily known as a right-back, he has established himself as first choice at left-back since Nuno Espirito Santo replaced Steve Cooper as manager, but has yet to agree a contract extension.
“I’m really enjoying my time here at Forest. Love it. It was great and they welcomed me with open arms. The club is fantastic and it’s a great experience to play at the City Ground. The atmosphere is amazing and it feels good to be here. I just want to finish the season and I’m sure things will work themselves out. At the moment the focus is simply on the Premier League next season.”
As for deducting four points which left Forest fighting for their lives and the controversy surrounding his club’s public dispute with refereeing body PGMOL, Aina – who says he was unaware that Mark Clattenburg was briefly employed as a refereeing consultant or that he was in charge of the Gladiators – believes that both made the players more determined.
“We weren’t very lucky and I think some things could have been handled differently – that’s clear to everyone,” he says. “But the way we are as a team is we’re going to moan about it for a while and then just move on. We never dwell on things. All we care about is going out on the pitch and doing well. With things not going our way, we have come together and want to fight for the badge and the club. Our fans can see that togetherness when we are on the field. We were relentless and we will not stop fighting until the end.”
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