Goodness Ohiremen Ajayi (born 6 October 1994) is a Nigerian professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Croatian club

Opatija Opatija (; ; ) is a List of cities and towns in Croatia, town and a municipality in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in northwestern Croatia. The traditional seaside resort on the Kvarner Gulf is known for its Mediterranean climate and its historic bu ...

Career

Born in

Benin City Benin City serves as the Capital city, capital and largest Metropolitan area, metropolitan centre of Edo State, situated in Nigeria, southern Nigeria. It ranks as the List of Nigerian cities by population, fourth-most populous city in Niger ...

, Ajayi was one of several players who moved from the Nigerian Abuja Football College Academy to the

Rijeka Rijeka (; Fiume ( �fjuːme in Italian and in Fiuman dialect, Fiuman Venetian) is the principal seaport and the List of cities and towns in Croatia, third-largest city in Croatia. It is located in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County on Kvarner Ba ...

youth team in late 2012, impressing enough to stay at the club. He made his Rijeka debut in the first round of the 2013–14 season at the age of 18, becoming the first player from Abuja Academy, run by

Gabriele Volpi Gabriele Volpi (born 29 June 1943) is an Italian-born Nigerian businessman, active in various sectors in Nigeria and Angola, the former owner of Italian football club Spezia Calcio and Croatian football club HNK Rijeka. Early life Gabriele Volp ...

, the owner of Rijeka and

Spezia Calcio Spezia Calcio is an Italian professional Association football, football club based in La Spezia, Liguria, currently competing in the Serie B. Spezia Calcio was founded in 1906 by the Swiss banker Hermann Hurni (or Hurny in some documents), who ...

, to feature in the club's squad. While at Rijeka, Ajayi was loaned to

Bosnian Premier League The Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina (; ; sr-Cyrl, Премијер лига Босне и Херцеговине), officially known as the Wwin League of Bosnia and Herzegovina for sponsorship purposes, is the top tier football leagu ...

club

Široki Brijeg Široki Brijeg () is a city and the regional capital of West Herzegovina Canton of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. the town itself had a population of 6,149 and the municipality of 28,929. Name ...

in July 2015 and to

Israeli Premier League The Israeli Premier League (, Ligat HaAl, ) is a professional association football league in Israel and the highest level of the Israeli football league system. The league is contested by 14 clubs, and operates on a system of promotion and rele ...

club

Hapoel Ashkelon Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. (, ''Moadon Kaduregel Hapoel Ashkelon'') was an Israeli football club based in Ashkelon. It was reestablished in 2024 as "Ironi Ashkelon". History After being founded in 1955, Hapoel Ashkelon spent their first few decades in ...

in August 2017. In June 2018, he was transferred to

Inter Zaprešić Inter may refer to: Association football clubs * Inter Milan, an Italian club * SC Internacional, a Brazilian club * Inter Miami CF, an American club * Inter Playa del Carmen, a Mexican club * FC Inter Sibiu, a Romanian club * FC Inter Turku, a Fi ...

as part of a player-exchange deal. On 19 June 2019, he signed a contract with Romanian

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

club

Astra Giurgiu Asociația Fotbal Club Astra Giurgiu (), commonly known as Astra Giurgiu or simply Astra, was a Romanian football club last based in the city of Giurgiu, Giurgiu County. Founded in 1921 in Ploiești as ''Clubul Sportiv Astra-Română'', it spe ...

Honours

Rijeka * 1. HNL: 2016–17 *

Croatian Cup Croatian Cup may refer to: *Croatian Football Cup *Croatian Football Super Cup *Croatian Women's Football Cup *Croatian Basketball Cup, also known as Krešimir Ćosić Cup *Croatian Handball Cup *Croatian Water Polo Cup The Croatian Water Polo C ...

: 2013–14, 2016–17 * Croatian Super Cup:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Ajayi, Goodness Ohriemen 1994 births Living people Footballers from Benin City Men's association football forwards Nigerian men's footballers HNK Rijeka players HNK Rijeka II players NK Široki Brijeg players Hapoel Ashkelon F.C. players NK Inter Zaprešić players FC Astra Giurgiu players Kazma SC players NK Opatija players Croatian Football League players Premier League of Bosnia and Herzegovina players Israeli Premier League players Liga I players Kuwait Premier League players Second Football League (Croatia) players Nigerian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Croatia Expatriate men's footballers in Bosnia and Herzegovina Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Croatia Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Bosnia and Herzegovina Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Israel Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Romania Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait 21st-century Nigerian sportsmen