West Bromwich Albion of England defender, Semi Ajayi has shot his mind back at his early days in the round leather game, and recounted how he got the best kind of foundation for his career under the wizened eyes of former Arsenal coach, Arsene Wenger, megasportsarena.com reports.
That came during Ajayi’s days in The Gunners’ youth squad, where he also got useful tips from the club’s former captain, Per Mertesacker, and the Super Eagles’ vastly-improved stopper-cum-holding midfielder admits he owes a lot to Wenger for putting him through the best basics of the game at such an early stage in his career.
The former Rotherham United of England youngster, who has hit better form and added more goals to his game in just a single season at WBA in the English Championship, added that he is truly delighted that he was able to work under Wenger and train with some world class players during his days at Arsenal, where he even grew to become their youth team’s captain.
His foundation experience at Emirates Stadium has now made it possible for him to put behind him the disappointment of missing out on Nigeria’s roster to the 2013 FIFA U20 World Cup and 2019 Africa Cup of Nations, as he has now become a key player for the national team, with 90 minutes action in their last four matches.
While disclosing that Mertesacker taught him how to defend properly, the former Flying Eagles’ invitee, who went on to captain Arsenal’s under-23 squad and was close to making his first-team debut in English Premier League matches against Hull City, Stoke City and Newcastle United, cast a look back at his early days and recalled that he soared in his final season with The Gunners.
Ajayi told Super Eagles Media: “It was great honestly. A massive club like Arsenal – the facilities, the players that I was training with, the boss, Arsene Wenger, working under him. I learnt a lot while I was there so I always look back on the two years.
“Training with these guys everyday was great because I could go up against some of the best players in the country and around the world. Per Mertesacker took a lot of time out to teach me the art of defending and give me some wisdom that he’s picked along the way and shared with me, and I was really grateful for that.
“I did hope to one day break into the first team but everyone’s path is different, sometimes you have to take two steps back to take three steps forward. The things that I learnt while I was there will serve me for the rest of my career.”
