Isaac Success

Isaac Success
Personal information
Full name Isaac Success Ajayi[1]
Date of birth (1996-01-07) 7 January 1996[2]
Place of birth Benin City, Nigeria
Height 1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)[2]
Position Forward
Youth career
BJ Foundation
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2015 Granada B 20 (9)
2014–2016 Granada 49 (7)
2016–2021 Watford 64 (3)
2018 → Málaga (loan) 9 (0)
2021–2024 Udinese 79 (4)
2024–2025 Al Wasl 0 (0)
International career
2013 Nigeria U17 7 (7)
2015–2016 Nigeria U20 4 (2)
2017–2022 Nigeria 4 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 24 August 2024

Isaac Success Ajayi (born 7 January 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward. He is currently a free agent.

Early and personal life

Isaac Success Ajayi was born on 7 January 1996 in Benin City, Nigeria. He started his football career with local youth side BJ Foundation Academy, and appeared regularly for the team as a young player.[3]

Club career

In November 2013, Success signed a pre-contract agreement with Italian side Udinese, which would be effective from January 2014,[4] for a €400,000 fee.[5] However, he was only granted a work permit in March of the following year,[6] and immediately joined Spanish club Granada, being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.[7]

On 31 August 2014, Success made his first-team debut, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Elche at the age of 18 years and seven months,[8] being their youngest player ever to appear in a La Liga match.[9] He scored his first professional goal on 7 December, netting his side's only of a home draw against Valencia, for the same scoreline.[10] On 7 August 2015, Success extended his contract with the club, signing a four-year until 2019 and being subsequently promoted to the main squad.[11]

On 1 July 2016, Success agreed a five-year deal with English Premier League side Watford in a record transfer fee, estimated around £12.5 million from Granada.[12] He scored just once in 19 appearances in the 2016–17 season and, after just one appearance for the team in the 2017–18 season, was loaned back to Spain, joining Málaga on 31 January 2018 until the remainder of the season.[13]

On 26 August 2021, Success left Watford after a five-year spell, signing for Italian club Udinese on a three-year deal, the club he was previously linked to years before.[14][15]

On 27 August 2024, Udinese terminated Success's contract by mutual consent, making him a free agent.[16]

In October 2024, two months after leaving Udinese as a free agent, it was announced that Success had signed for highly decorated Emirati club Al-Wasl on a free transfer.[17]

International career

In 2013 Success was called up to Nigeria under-17's for the year's FIFA U-17 World Cup, being also named vice-captain. He appeared in the first two games, but was sidelined during the rest of the tournament due to an injury.[18] Success got his first call up to the senior Nigeria side for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Zambia in October 2016.[19] On 23 March 2017, Success made his debut for Nigeria, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against Senegal at The Hive Stadium in London.[20]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 19 May 2024[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Granada B 2013–14 Segunda División B 5 3 — — — 5 3
2014–15 15 6 — — — 15 6
Total 20 9 — — — 20 9
Granada 2014–15[22] La Liga 19 1 4 0 — — 23 1
2015–16[23] 30 6 3 0 — — 33 6
Total 49 7 7 0 — — 56 7
Watford 2016–17[24] Premier League 19 1 0 0 0 0 — 19 1
2017–18[25] 0 0 0 0 1 0 — 1 0
2018–19[26] 30 1 3 1 2 2 — 35 4
2019–20[27] 5 0 1 0 1 0 — 7 0
2020–21[28] Championship 10 1 0 0 0 0 — 10 1
Total 64 3 4 1 4 2 — 72 6
Málaga (loan) 2017–18 La Liga 9 0 0 0 — — 9 0
Udinese 2021–22[29] Serie A 22 2 2 1 — — 24 3
2022–23[30] 30 1 2 1 — — 32 2
2023–24[31] 27 1 0 0 — — 27 1
Total 79 4 4 2 — — 83 6
Career total 220 23 15 3 4 2 0 0 239 28

Honours

Watford

References

  1. ^ "Squads for 2016/17 Premier League confirmed". Premier League. 1 September 2016. Retrieved 11 September 2016.
  2. ^ a b "Isaac Success". Premier League. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
  3. ^ Eaglets Striker Close To Udinese Deal Deprecated link archived 29 August 2014 at archive.today; Complete Sports Nigeria, 10 June 2013
  4. ^ Isaac Success Confirms He Will Join Udinese In January; All Nigeria Soccer, 12 November 2013
  5. ^ Isaac Success, la nuova scommessa dell'Udinese (Isaac Success, Udinese's new bet); Tutto Udinese, 26 May 2013 (in Italian)
  6. ^ Isaac Success gets work permit today; The Nation Online, 14 March 2014
  7. ^ Success Isaac y Uche Agbo: nuevos jugadores del Granada CF (Success Isaac and Uche Agbo: new player of Granada CF) Archived 3 September 2014 at the Wayback Machine; Granada's official website, 18 March 2014 (in Spanish)
  8. ^ Elche snatch last-gasp equalsier; ESPN FC, 31 August 2014
  9. ^ Success, jugador más joven en debutar en Primera con el Granada (Success, the youngest player to debut in Primera with Granada); Marca, 1 September 2014 (in Spanish)
  10. ^ Granada 1–1 Valencia; ESPN FC, 7 December 2014
  11. ^ Isaac Success un año más de contrato (Isaac Success one more year of contract); Granada's official website, 7 August 2015 (in Spanish)
  12. ^ "Official: Isaac Success joins Watford FC". Watford F.C. Club Journalist. Archived from the original on 7 August 2016. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  13. ^ "Watford: Isaac Success joins Malaga on loan". BBC Sport. 31 January 2018.
  14. ^ "Official: Udinese Switch For Success". Watford FC. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  15. ^ "Success è un nuovo giocatore dell'Udinese" (in Italian). Udinese Calcio. 26 August 2021. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  16. ^ "Club statement: Isaac Success". Udinese. 27 August 2024. Retrieved 28 August 2024.
  17. ^ Aikigbe, Godwin (21 October 2024). "Success begins 'new chapter' with UAE giants Al Wasl". The Punch. Archived from the original on 21 October 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  18. ^ Isaac Success fit for U-17 World Cup final; Goal.com, 8 November 2013
  19. ^ "Mikel Obi, Musa, Ikeme 20 others To battle Zambia". thenff.com. 22 September 2016. Archived from the original on 27 January 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2016.
  20. ^ "Nigeria 1 Senegal 1: Iheanacho earns a draw for Super Eagles". Goal. Retrieved 24 March 2017.
  21. ^ "I. Success". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 July 2016.
  22. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2014/2015". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  23. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2015/2016". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  24. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  25. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  26. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 19 August 2018.
  27. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
  28. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
  29. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 26 August 2021.
  30. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 August 2022.
  31. ^ "Games played by Isaac Success in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 6 May 2024.
  32. ^ McNulty, Phil (18 May 2019). "Manchester City 6–0 Watford". BBC Sport. Retrieved 18 May 2019.
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