I’m Too Old for Arsenal’ – Aina Jokes
A lighthearted exchange on the fringes of the Wimbledon Championships has pulled Ola Aina back into transfer conversation, after the Nottingham Forest defender waved away the idea of a move to Arsenal with a one line dismissal that has since spread widely online.
Approached by a Nigerian supporter working at the All England Club and asked whether he would consider joining the Gunners, the full back smiled and answered, “I’m too old for Arsenal,” in footage that surfaced on Tuesday. The comment was plainly made in jest, yet it carried a thread of realism from a player who turns 30 in October and whose role at the City Ground is under fresh scrutiny.
Aina, whose full name is Temitayo Olufisayo Olaoluwa Aina, was born in London on 8 October 1996 and came through the Chelsea academy, making six senior appearances for the Stamford Bridge side before establishing himself away from the club. He featured for Fulham during the 2020/21 season and later moved to Italian club Torino, from where he joined Forest on a free transfer on 22 July 2023. Three seasons on, he has become a regular in the East Midlands, and the club rewarded that consistency with a contract extension on 7 July 2025 that runs until June 2028. A right sided defender who started out as a winger before converting to full back, he holds dual eligibility for Nigeria and England and has committed his international future to the Super Eagles.
Beyond the Arsenal quip, the more pointed message from Aina concerned his own output. The defender set himself a target of at least five goals in the 2026/27 campaign after failing to score at all in the previous season. “I need to pray and fast because I did not score any goals last season. The season before, I think I got three goal involvements,” he said. “I need to do some serious prayer and fasting because I need at least five. If I get five, I will be content.”
The numbers frame the challenge. Across all competitions in 2025/26, Aina made 28 appearances without scoring, his only goal contribution an assist in Forest’s 2-1 UEFA Europa League defeat to Fenerbahce. That barren run followed his most productive spell in England, the 2024/25 season, when he recorded two goals and one assist in 35 Premier League outings as Forest finished seventh, their strongest top flight placing in decades and enough to secure European qualification. It was on the back of that form that Aina was linked with a move to Manchester City during the January 2025 transfer window, a link that ultimately came to nothing.
His most recent season was also shaped by fitness problems. Aina limped off during Nigeria’s 1-1 World Cup qualifying draw with South Africa in September 2025 and was subsequently ruled out for around three months with a hamstring injury that required surgery. He was removed from Forest’s Premier League squad before being re-registered, and returned to action around the turn of the year. According to performance data platforms, he logged 789 Premier League minutes across the campaign with an average match rating just under 7.0, a reflection of a stop start season rather than a decline in standard.
That backdrop matters, because competition for his position has intensified. Forest have endured significant upheaval in the dugout, with the club moving through multiple managerial changes since the sacking of Nuno Espirito Santo, and British media have reported the appointment of Oliver Glasner as the latest man in charge under chairman Evangelos Marinakis. Reports have also linked Forest with Fiorentina full back Dodo as Glasner reshapes his defence, a signing that would place direct pressure on Aina. Comparative figures cited in those reports noted that Dodo started 36 league games last term against Aina’s 18, underlining why the Nigerian’s starting berth is no longer assured.
The Arsenal exchange also lands at a subdued moment for Nigerian football on the global stage. The Super Eagles are absent from the 2026 World Cup, co hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico, after a punishing qualifying journey ended in heartbreak. Nigeria reached the Confederation of African Football playoff through a final day 4-0 win over Benin Republic, sealed by a Victor Osimhen hat-trick, then defeated Gabon 4-1 in the playoff semi final in Morocco. In the decisive final in Rabat on 16 November 2025, however, they lost 4-3 on penalties to the Democratic Republic of Congo after a 1-1 draw, missing out on the intercontinental playoff and, with it, the tournament itself. Aina, sidelined by injury during that window, was unavailable for the climax of the campaign under head coach Eric Chelle.
For now, the defender appears settled at Forest and focused on rediscovering an attacking edge rather than chasing a switch across the capital. Whether his goal pledge survives the arrival of new defensive recruits, and a manager still imposing his ideas on the squad, is likely to be one of the quieter subplots of Forest’s pre season.