Nicky Ajose

Nicky Ajose
Personal information
Full name Nicholas Olushola Ajose
Date of birth (1991-10-07) 7 October 1991
Place of birth Bury, England
Height 5 ft 6 in (1.68 m)[1]
Playing position Forward
Club information
Current team
 Charlton Athletic
Number 10
Youth career
1999–2009 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2011 Manchester United 0 (0)
2010–2011 → Bury (loan) 28 (13)
2011–2014 Peterborough United 24 (7)
2011 → Scunthorpe United (loan) 7 (0)
2012 → Chesterfield (loan) 12 (1)
2012 → Crawley Town (loan) 19 (2)
2013 → Bury (loan) 19 (4)
2013–2014 → Swindon Town (loan) 16 (6)
2014–2015 Leeds United 3 (0)
2014–2015 → Crewe Alexandra (loan) 27 (8)
2015–2016 Swindon Town 38 (24)
2016– Charlton Athletic 15 (5)
National team‡
2006–2007 England U16 4 (0)
2007 England U17 1 (0)

* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 28 November 2016.

‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 12:22, 23 November 2016 (UTC)

Nicholas Olushola "Nicky" Ajose (born 7 October 1991) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Charlton Athletic. He began his career with Manchester United, but never made an appearance in the first-team and spent much of the 2010–11 season on loan to Bury. He joined Peterborough United in July 2011, but spent time on loan with Scunthorpe United, Chesterfield, Crawley Town and Swindon Town, as well as another six months with Bury, before joining Leeds United in August 2014. After a spell on loan with Crewe Alexandra during the 2014–15 season, his contract with Leeds was terminated by mutual consent in September 2015, when he rejoined Swindon. In June 2016 Ajose made the switch to Charlton Athletic for an undisclosed fee.

Ajose played for England at under-16 and under-17 level. Also eligible to play for Nigeria, he was called up to the Nigeria under-20s for the 2009 African Youth Championship.

Club career

Manchester United

Born in Bury, Ajose made his way through Manchester United's youth squads, having joined the club in 1999.[2] He was awarded with his first professional contract by the club in the summer of 2009.[3]

Bury (loan)

On 24 September 2010, Ajose joined his home-town club, Bury, on a one-month loan deal,[4] he made his debut the following day as an 80th-minute substitute in a 2–0 away win over Cheltenham Town.[5] His first goal for Bury came on his fifth appearance, a 3–0 home win over Accrington Stanley on 9 October.[6] Seven days later he netted in a 4–3 away victory over Torquay United.[7] His loan was later extended until 3 January 2011.[8] Ajose then scored goals in a 3–1 away wins over Aldershot Town on 30 October,[9] and Burton Albion on 19 November.[10] Ajose netted twice in a 5–0 away win over Lincoln City on 23 November.[11] On 5 January 2011, Bury announced that they had agreed at a meeting with Sir Alex Ferguson that Ajose would remain at Bury on loan until 30 June 2011.[12] He returned to Manchester United for treatment in February after damaging his knee.[13] Five weeks later he rejoined Bury to commence the rest of his loan spell.[14] Ajose scored his first goal of 2011 in a 4–2 away victory over Macclesfield Town on 1 February.[15] He scored twice in a 3–0 victory over Oxford United on 2 April,[16] before netting another brace in a 4–2 away win over Northampton Town the following week.[17]

Peterborough United

After failing to make it into the Manchester United first-team, Ajose joined Peterborough United – managed by Darren Ferguson, son of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson – on 5 July 2011. Peterborough paid an undisclosed fee for the striker, thought to be around £300,000 who signed a four-year contract with the club.[18] After a short loan spell with Scunthorpe United he signed on loan with Chesterfield for the remainder of the season, scoring his first goal against his former club, Bury.[19] Next a loan spell with former manager Richie Barker's Crawley Town came with 18 appearances and nine goals, Ajose scored the goal that knocked Championship side Bolton Wanderers out of the Football League Cup. In January 2013, Ajose returned to Peterborough, before again signing for his home-town team, Bury, on loan for the rest of the season on 23 January. On 2 February, Ajose scored his first goal back at Bury with a headed effort in their 2–0 over Doncaster Rovers at Gigg Lane.[20] In August 2013, Ajose joined Scottish Premiership side St Johnstone (who had qualified for UEFA Europa League) on trial.[21]

On 30 August 2013, Ajose signed for Swindon Town on loan until 1 January 2014.[22] He scored 10 goals in 21 games for Swindon in all competitions.

After impressing during his six-month loan spell at Swindon, Ajose returned to Peterborough United in January 2014. On 7 February, Ajose won the League One Player of the Month award for January 2014.[23] He scored seven goals for Peterborough United in 22 league appearances, helping them reach the League One play-offs. Ajose started both legs of the play-off semi-final against Leyton Orient, playing alongside Britt Assombalonga up front, but Orient won 3–2 on aggregate and Peterborough were knocked out. Ajose scored 17 goals in all competitions during the 2013–14 season, with 13 of those coming in the league.

In line with the club's policy of transfer-listing all players entering the last year of their contracts, Ajose was transfer-listed by Peterborough on 15 May 2014.[24]

Leeds United

On 5 August 2014, Ajose signed a three-year contract with Leeds United, who paid Peterborough an undisclosed fee,[25] reported to be around £150,000.[26] Ajose made his debut for Leeds on 9 August against Millwall.[27]

Crewe Alexandra loan

On 26 November 2014, Ajose joined Crewe Alexandra in an emergency loan deal until 5 January 2015.[28] After Ajose scored three goals in five matches for the Alex, their manager Steve Davis revealed that he was in talks with Leeds head coach Neil Redfearn about renewing the loan deal,[29] and on 8 January 2015 Crewe announced that they had secured Ajose on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season.[30][31][32]

During his loan spell, Ajose scored eight league goals for Crewe finishing as the clubs top scorer, his goals and numerous assists helped keep the club in League One with Crewe Alexandra staying up on the final day of the season and finishing in 20th place, after being firmly in the relegation places upon Ajose's initial arrival at the club. Crewe Manager Steve Davis praised Ajose's impact in helping keep the club in the division.[33]

Return to Leeds

During the 2014–15 pre-season, incoming Leeds head coach Uwe Rösler said on his arrival at the club that all players had a clean slate, and he singled out Ajose as a player who had impressed him in training. On 10 July 2015, Ajose started Leeds' first pre-season friendly ahead of the 2015–16 season in a 1–1 draw against Harrogate Town.[34] On 15 July, Ajose made a second appearance in Leeds' 1–1 friendly draw against York City,[35] but he was left out of the squad for the club's tour of Austria and Norway.[36]

Swindon Town

After not being assigned a squad number for the 2015–16 season,[37] Ajose's contract with Leeds United was terminated by mutual consent on 2 September 2015.[38] Later that day, he signed a three-year contract with Swindon Town, where he had spent six months on loan in 2013. He later scored on his debut in a 3–1 win against Crewe Alexandria [39]

Ajose scored 24 League goals during the 2015/16 season for Swindon and finished as League 1's 2nd Top Goal Scorer just behind Will Grigg.[40]

Charlton Athletic

On 16 June 2016, it was announced that Charlton Athletic were targeting Ajose from Swindon Town for a fee in the region of £800,000.[41] He scored his first goals for Charlton when he scored twice in a 2–1 win over Walsall on 20 August 2016.[42]

International career

Ajose was capped by England four times at under-16 level and once at under-17 level.[43]

He is also eligible to play for Nigeria and was called up by Nigeria under-20s for the 2009 African Youth Championship.[44]

Career statistics

As of match played 2 April 2016.[45]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Bury (loan) 2010–11[46] League Two 281320002[lower-alpha 1]03213
Peterborough United 2011–12[47] Championship 200000—20
2012–13[48] Championship 001000—10
2013–14[49] League One 22700002[lower-alpha 2]0247
Total 247100020277
Scunthorpe United (loan) 2011–12[47] League One 7010001[lower-alpha 1]090
Chesterfield (loan) 2011–12[47] League One 121000000121
Crawley Town (loan) 2012–13[48] League One 19200211[lower-alpha 1]0223
Bury (loan) 2012–13[48] League One 194000000194
Swindon Town (loan) 2013–14[49] League One 16610103[lower-alpha 1]42110
Leeds United 2014–15[50] Championship 300010—40
Crewe Alexandra (loan) 2014–15[50] League One 278000000278
Swindon Town 2015–16[51] League One 332211001[lower-alpha 1]03523
Charlton Athletic 2016–17 League One 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Career totals 18863505210420869
  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Appearances in Football League Trophy
  2. ↑ Appearances in League One play-offs

Honours

Club

Bury

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Nick Ajose". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. Retrieved 8 June 2015.
  2. ↑ "Career History". UpThePosh!. Retrieved 17 February 2012.
  3. ↑ "Player profile: Nicky Ajose". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  4. ↑ "United youngster on loan". buryfc.co.uk. Bury F.C. 25 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  5. ↑ "Cheltenham 0–2 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 25 September 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2010.
  6. ↑ "Bury 3–0 Accrington". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 October 2010. Retrieved 9 October 2010.
  7. ↑ "Torquay 3–4 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 16 October 2010. Retrieved 16 October 2010.
  8. ↑ "Bury extend loan of Manchester United's Nicky Ajose". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 22 October 2010. Retrieved 23 October 2010.
  9. ↑ "Aldershot 1–3 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 30 October 2010. Retrieved 30 October 2010.
  10. ↑ "Burton Albion 1–3 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 19 November 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2010.
  11. ↑ "Lincoln City 0–5 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 23 November 2010. Retrieved 23 November 2010.
  12. ↑ "Nicky stays at Gigg Lane". buryfc.co.uk. Bury FC. 5 January 2011. Archived from the original on 11 May 2012. Retrieved 5 January 2011.
  13. ↑ "Ajose returns to Old Trafford for treatment". buryfc.co.uk. Bury FC. 8 February 2011. Archived from the original on 22 March 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2011.
  14. ↑ "Nicky Ajose returns to Bury from Man Utd after injury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 18 March 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
  15. ↑ "Macclesfield 2–4 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 1 February 2011. Retrieved 1 February 2011.
  16. ↑ "Bury 3–0 Oxford Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 April 2011. Retrieved 2 April 2011.
  17. ↑ "Northampton 2–4 Bury". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 9 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
  18. ↑ "Peterborough land Manchester United's Nicky Ajose". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 5 July 2011. Retrieved 5 July 2011.
  19. ↑ "Spireites issue retained list". Chesterfield FC. 9 May 2012. Archived from the original on 18 July 2012. Retrieved 9 May 2012.
  20. ↑ "Bury 2–0 Doncaster". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 2 February 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  21. ↑ "Ajose back with Posh". Sky Sports. 20 August 2013. Retrieved 20 August 2013.
  22. ↑ "Nicky Ajose: Swindon agree loan deal for Peterborough striker". BBC Sport. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 31 August 2013.
  23. 1 2 "Ajose named Player of the Month". football-league.co.uk (The Football League). 7 February 2014. Retrieved 7 February 2014.
  24. ↑ "League One latest: Ex Manchester United striker Nicky Ajose is transfer-listed by Peterborough United". Scunthorpe Telegraph. Local World. 15 May 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  25. ↑ "Nicky Ajose: Leeds United sign Peterborough United striker". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 5 August 2014. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  26. ↑ Hay, Phil (8 August 2014). "Ajose: I've earned my chance at Leeds United". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  27. ↑ "Millwall v Leeds". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 August 2014.
  28. ↑ "AJOSE MAKES LOAN MOVE". Leeds United AFC. 26 November 2014. Retrieved 26 November 2014.
  29. ↑ Rich Sharpe (7 January 2015). "Crewe Alexandra: Steve Davis hopeful Jamie Ness and Nicky Ajose will return". The Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
  30. ↑ "Ajose: "I've Got Unfinished Business"". Crewe Alexandra FC. 8 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  31. ↑ "REDFEARN GIVES TRANSFER UPDATE". Leeds United AFC. 9 January 2015. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  32. ↑ Phil Hay (9 January 2015). "Leeds United: Redfearn wants signings now". Yorkshire Evening Post. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
  33. ↑ Rich Sharp (29 April 2015). "Crewe Alexandra: Nicky Ajose's contribution shouldn't be overlooked – Steve Davis". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 29 April 2015.
  34. ↑ "United held in Harrogate friendly". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. 10 July 2015. Retrieved 10 July 2015.
  35. ↑ "Byram on target in York draw". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. 15 July 2015. Retrieved 18 July 2015.
  36. ↑ "Pre-season: United touch down in Austria". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. 18 July 2015. Retrieved 19 July 2015.
  37. ↑ "2015/16 squad numbers announced". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. 31 July 2015. Retrieved 31 July 2015.
  38. ↑ "Ajose free to exit Elland Road". leedsunited.com. Leeds United FC. 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  39. ↑ "Nicky Ajose: Swindon Town sign former Leeds United striker". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 2 September 2015. Retrieved 2 September 2015.
  40. ↑ "League One Top Scorers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 May 2016.
  41. ↑ "Nicky Ajose: Charlton Athletic agree deal to sign Swindon Town top scorer". BBC Sport. 16 June 2016. Retrieved 18 June 2016.
  42. ↑ "Walsall 1–2 Charlton". BBC Sport. 20 August 2016. Retrieved 24 August 2016.
  43. ↑ "Nicky Ajose". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 19 April 2013.
  44. ↑ "Country Call up Man Utd Youngster". Kick Off Magazine. 14 December 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2011.
  45. ↑ "Nicky Ajose". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
  46. ↑ "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2010/2011". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  47. 1 2 3 "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2011/2012". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  48. 1 2 3 "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2012/2013". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  49. 1 2 "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2013/2014". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  50. 1 2 "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
  51. ↑ "Games played by Nicky Ajose in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 March 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.