Aaron Olanare is a Nigerian footballer playing in China. He is still very young - this year he turned 22 years old. Aaron Olanare plays as a center forward, but can also act as a right or left winger if needed.
Carier start
Aaron Olanare was born on July 4, 1994 in Nigeria, where he spent all his childhood. He played for the youth squad of the Shooting Stars Nigerian club, and in 2010 at the age of 16 he already got a place in the club's foundation. He played 23 matches, scoring 15 goals, and then moved to the Dolphins, where, however, he could not start playing. But when he turned eighteen and was able to leave his home country, the striker joined the Norwegian club Valerenga. Aaron Olanare was seen as a promising forward, and the Scandinavians were counting on the fact that he would grow into a strong player.
Moving to Europe and the Norwegian period
Aaron Olanare is a footballer who has not proven himself in the best way in the new championship. After stellar performances at home, in two seasons he was able to score only one goal. But he appeared on the field only 17 times in total. Things got a little better when he moved to Sarpsborg in 2013. He entered the field 26 times, scoring ten goals - and this result was already more impressed by the management. But he also impressed the scouts of the Chinese club "Guangzhou Fuli", who paid one and a half million euros for him. So the Nigerian ended up in China.
Playing in China and renting at CSKA
As part of Guangzhou, the Nigerian talent spent a season and a half - during this time he managed to play 35 matches, in which he scored fifteen goals. But in February 2016, the club decided to give the player on loan for six months to the Russian CSKA, as the latter did not show the progress that was expected of him. For several months in Russia, Olanare entered the field seven times, scoring two goals. This result did not impress the Chinese bosses, and when the Nigerian returned from the loan, he was sent to the double, where he is currently playing.
National team performances
In October 2014, Aaron Olanare made his debut for the Nigeria national team at the age of twenty. Already in the second match for the national team, he went to starting lineup and scored a goal. In total, to date, the young Nigerian has played seven caps for the national team, scoring two goals. But the last time he entered the field wearing a national team jersey was in June 2015 - and the situation will not change until Olanare begins to get playing practice again. In the meantime, he is in the reserve of his club, he can hardly expect another challenge from the national team.
He really wanted to return, and did not hide it. Even the status on Instagram - "Super Eagles player and CSKA" - did not change. It's a trifle, you say, but such strokes sometimes add up to a whole picture. Olanare less than half a year was enough to feel the special, family atmosphere of the capital's team, which everyone in the club is so proud of - from the president to the security guard at the base. Therefore, the sporting director of the red and blue did not have to persuade Aaron for a long time. It was more difficult to persuade the "Chinese partners", but CSKA successfully solved this problem, thus fulfilling the main transfer task of winter-2017. The team needed a cool, proven center forward, and they found him.
The first visit of the Nigerian athlete to CSKA was controversial. On one side of the scale - a pair of goals in the championship, one - in the Cup final and the first gold in life, on the other - a severe knee injury. Aaron left Moscow with mixed feelings - hefty portions of pride in himself and his team were mingled with bitterness from injury and concern about a career.
“Guangzhou Fuli” (not to be confused with “Evergrande” - the champion of China for the last six years) Olanara did not really need it in full health, otherwise he simply would not have let the striker go to Russia. In turn, CSKA reasonably decided to play on pause - to wait for the player to fully recover before taking new steps in this direction.
When Olanare recovered, another important nuance arose: the coach changed in the capital's club. Viktor Goncharenko it was unnecessary to describe the game and personal characteristics of Aaron - they were already well known to him from joint work in the first half of 2016. It was important for the new commander of the "army" to personally make sure that the player is really, and not for show, strives back to CSKA. Only after a personal conversation between the player and the coach, the club launched the mechanism for returning Olanare. Therefore, the attitude of the striker completely satisfied the coach.
Following the results of the first collection of Russian champions in Campoamor, a few observers could have doubts about the advisability of acquiring another striker. At first glance, there are already enough of them in CSKA's cage - four, count, a couple of candidates for each of the two positions in the new scheme. That is so, but none of them can be called an "iron" candidate for a place in the base. Chalov with Zhamaletdinov they just settle down in the first team and overgrow with "meat" for crushing with adult men. Vitinho not a "battering ram" in format: technical, inventive, but not physically strong enough for this role (and not very effective, let's be frank). A Traore... Let's not talk about sad things.
Only after a personal conversation between the player and the coach, the club launched the mechanism for returning Olanare
In the first "shift" in Campoamor, young Russian strikers won the competition against a potential teammate from Burkina Faso. Jafar looked so bright in training that the signing of the contract seemed a matter of time. The young man passed the "tests" perfectly, but failed the "exam". In a sparring with a representative of the second Swiss division, a mysterious stranger made so many ball losses that Goncharenko's desire to continue the show, and even more so to enroll Jafar in the team, instantly disappeared. The very next day, the coach announced that Jafar would not be at CSKA.
Zhamaletdinov and Chalov, on the contrary, took advantage of the chance presented. Odin shared the title of top scorer of the training camp with Ionov(both scored two goals), the other scored an assist and earned a penalty. As a result, Timur and Fyodor went to Moscow to gain strength before the second training camp, and Jafar went home, to prepare for a new bride somewhere else.
Ramming Aron. Why CSKA Olanara
On Wednesday evening, CSKA signed a contract with striker Olanare, and on Thursday it will show it to the public - in a test match with Dynamo in Spain.
All this time the invisible work of the "army" selection continued. In any case, Jafar was viewed as a candidate "for growth." To fight for the title, CSKA needed a seasoned scorer, capable not in a vague perspective, but here and now, to "drag" the team. The Ivorian sniper "Anji" was among the candidates for strengthening the squad. Pain, but rather as a fallback - in case the others fail. Olanare remained the priority for CSKA - the player is younger, physically strong and, accordingly, promising. In addition, it is not a stranger to the team and the fans. In this case, the risk of unsuccessful integration or, what is worse, the rejection of the newcomer by the team was deliberately excluded. The sports department of the club also took this circumstance into account.
We must pay tribute to CSKA: the club knows how to take quality performers for reasonable money, wisely seizing the moment for negotiations. To be convinced of this, it is enough to remember the sale-lease Wagner and Doumbia... Both cases deserve a separate chapter in a football management textbook. According to Olanar, CSKA also worked competently: it waited until the player's market value almost halved (from two to 1.2 million euros), and only after that “went” to Fuli with his proposal. Without knowing it, the Chinese football shareholders played into the hands of the champions of Russia. The tightening of the limit on foreign players put Guangzhou in a rather awkward position. According to the new regulation, only three foreigners can be on the field at the same time, one of whom must represent the Asian region. And at Dragan Stojkovic seven of these players, four of them are national team members, and that's not counting Olanare. CSKA cleverly turned the Guangzhou problem to their advantage.
Olanare has never played with any of the four CSKA forwards
On the one hand, Aaron is returning to a well-known team, on the other, not quite: a new scheme, new attacking partners (Olanare has never played with any of the four forwards before) - all this can make it difficult for the Nigerian to re-adapt to CSKA. However, two full-fledged training camps should be enough for Viktor Goncharenko to "fit" the conditional recruit into his model. This winter they are all conditional at the "army": Vasin with Vitinho are also not strangers to the club.
Nigeria and Guangzhou Fuli striker Aaron Olanare may soon appear in CSKA. What kind of dough is this 20-year-old footballer made of?
The first thing that catches your eye is the primal power of Olanare. Experiencing, frankly, envy. Look at what little knives! This is how football should be played.
Therefore, there is no surprise: in the Chinese championship, where a 20-year-old striker with a height of almost two meters stands for the club "Guangzhou Fuli", everything that comes along the way flies away from him, as if from a wall. The Chinese are generally small people. And here is such a Godzilla.
Now, if Olanare moves to CSKA (and he himself is 50-50), let's see what his strength really is. No matter how you scold the Premier League, it's hard to score in Russia. This was noted in a recent interview with "SE" and Main coach"Mordovia" Yuri Semin, with whom it is difficult to disagree.
But Olanare is notable not only for anthropometric data. You never know a big man on the planet? Nature, judging by the video, also endowed him with a good starting speed, flexibility and impact. Now that's another matter! Such a footballer can play anywhere.
However, you first need to make a deal. Guangzhou Fuli does not want to sell its leader for less than 6 million euros. CSKA, traditionally a balanced approach to transfers, considers this amount excessive. In the Chinese Championship, which ended in November, Olanare played 16 matches and scored 8 goals.
And he began his career in the Nigerian club "Shootin Stars", one of the oldest in the country. Once there, Patrick Ovie made his first steps, who later came to the court in the Samara "Wings of the Soviets". Then Olanare moved to Norway.
When he signed with Valerenga in 2012, one of the Nigerian football sites posted the following words: “The Shootin Stars have lost a diamond.” And the head coach of the Norwegian team Martin Andresen, meanwhile, praised the newcomer: “Olanare is a huge talent. He has tremendous potential. I noticed him at one of the tournaments in Norway. The guy is a fast learner. Physical and specifications this striker allows me to guess: he will make sense. "
However, due to his young age, Olanare could not gain a foothold in “Valerengue” and moved to “Sarpsborg”, a lesser-known Norwegian team, where he regularly scored. From there the path lay to China.
In October, Aaron earned his first invitation to the Nigeria national team. He now has three Super Eagles appearances and two goals. Olanare has overtaken his national teammate, CSKA striker Musa, in height by 20 cm. And in general, he is completely different, except for plasticity. Maybe he has a more thorough approach to the implementation of the moments?
Aaron Olanare left CSKA in the winter, but was not needed back in the fall.
Not even Chalov with Zhamaletdinov was ousted from the Nigerian, but Pontus Wernbloom. Olanare could return to Scandinavia, but eventually went to Amkar. The viewing lasted from several days almost to the end of February - in a T-shirt without a number, Olanare scored already in test matches, but the clubs could not agree on the terms of the lease for a long time.
We met with Olanare the day before his triumphant match: the Nigerian's double was sentenced by Lokomotiv. Aaron's cap, a chain around his neck, a watch and a ring glittered in gold, and complemented the image of AirPods, which he practically does not take out of his ears.
It's good that we play against Lokomotiv on a natural turf. But psychologically for the team, this is not very great. As if we were playing the match at home, but everything is as if on the road: flight, hotel, stadium - Olanare did not know yet that Amkar and he personally would handle this pressure perfectly.
- What is the state of the field in Perm?
I can't call it bad, the lawn is normal. In addition, we conduct trainings at Zvezda. Our previous home match with Arsenal was moved to Ufa - and I did not see any difference in the state of the field at all.
Vitaly Mutko believes that in that match the referee nailed Amkar, and Mikhail Vilkov said that he was ashamed of that match.
Two deletions are too much. And the first penalty was not supposed to be: we broke the rules to the penalty area. I don't understand why the judge worked like that. Maybe because we took the points away from Zenit in the last round? I was very angry after playing against Arsenal.
- Did it bother you that now Amkar agreed to play on the Lokomotiv field because of the money?
I don't know much about this situation. I knew it was preferable to play the match in better conditions. Let's say a natural lawn is better than an artificial one.
Have you heard anything about Amkar's financial problems? In winter, the club almost closed, Gadzhi Hajiyev says that there is no money.
It seems we are still in the championship, right? It means that everything is not so bad.
- When did you learn to do somersaults? They said that it was because of them that you were injured in the game against Zenit.
Back in Nigeria, we had so much fun when we were kids. I learned it myself, no one helped me!
I repeat again: I have never gotten injured from somersaults. In that game against Zenit, I was injured even before I scored a goal: Witsel hit me in the legs from behind. I felt pain in my knee and asked the doctors to put tape on my knee. Having scored a goal and celebrated it, I did not leave the field. In the next episode, when I was fighting for the ball with someone from Zenit, the same knee twisted out again - that's when I got injured.
- In addition to somersaults, you are not very much remembered in Russia. What prevented you from revealing all your qualities in CSKA?
I showed them at the very beginning of my career at CSKA. Until he was injured. And when I recovered, I didn't have much playing time to prove myself. Instead, I was constantly sitting on the bench or even watching the game outside the application. It was very depressing and angry. In this position, I can hardly get better. I need playing time to develop.
In such cases, everything depends on the coach. He decides what he wants from you. It happens that he is not satisfied with your level, your style of play, he wants more from you. Because of this, I decided to leave CSKA.
- Do you remember this season's game against the Young Boys in the Champions League qualification?
This is the worst moment of my career. Reverse replacement is very bad. This is the first time this has happened to me. I will never forget this.
- Dzagoev swore at you right on the field. For what?
We collided. This happens in football, it's normal. How will you be happy here?
- Does this mean the attitude towards you in the team? Didn't you feel redundant or rejected?
It all depends on the coach. How he sets up the team affects the players. Perhaps that is why Goncharenko and I did not work together.
I wouldn't say that other CSKA players hated me. Everything was ok with me. But some coaches are not very good.
- Did Goncharenko tell you something when you left for Amkar?
Nothing. “CSKA don’t need you, you can leave,” I haven’t heard such words either. I myself understood that I needed practice. I got it at Amkar. I can no longer afford to disappear on the bench.
- Did you like working with Slutsky more?
This is a free man, smart. He constantly joked with me: “You were a cannibal when you lived in Africa! You are just a monster, you play like a beast! What did you eat to become like that? People, probably? " Back in CSKA, Vasily Berezutsky constantly laughed at me. He constantly called me some one Russian word - I don't remember which one. And he also said: "You are the best!"
- Who is the funniest person in Amkar?
Trainers. Sometimes I picked up the wrong boots (there is a special field in Perm) and went to practice with them. Then they brought out such healthy boots for the snow - felt boots, right? “Put it on,” they say, “it will be more comfortable for you”.
- Is Evseev as emotional as after the game with Wales? He then shouted obscenities at the camera.
I haven't experienced that - at least not yet. Yes, Evseev is strict, but I have not seen him swear at the players or shout. Wernbloom in CSKA did not gesture with me either, but you can see from him - a real Scandinavian. I can speak because I played in Norway myself. This kind of passion and emotion is normal.
- Did you feel the dissatisfaction of the fans?
No. I never worry about that.
- Have you ever encountered racism in Russia?
Never. Perhaps this is because I do not understand the language. Even if someone hoots - maybe he just wants to sound like a dog? I really don't know why, but that's none of my business. In Russia, I have never felt disrespectful to myself.
All people are the same: breathe, eat, run. It seems to me that if I call someone a racist, I’ll only draw attention to myself in vain, and racism will only increase. I just ... don't care about people like that.
- Did you communicate with Musa about his return to CSKA?
Yes. The last time we talked about this was a couple of days ago. At Leicester they did not trust him, preferring the English players.
- Do you have the same problem at CSKA?
There are too many good players at Leicester - Vardi, Marez, Okazaki - to have room for Ahmed too. Who is CSKA? Chalov? Zhamaletdinov? Pfft ...
There are strong players in other CSKA lines. For example, Golovin is one of the strongest players in the league.
- Musa is invited to the Nigeria national team. Will we see you there at the World Championships?
Unfortunately, I have not received a call for the last friendlies. And I have to - before the World Cup this is important. I have always been in the national team and had no problems there. Still positive about the national team. I know that the coaches watch Amkar's matches and follow me. Of course, I really want to come to the World Cup. Moreover, we have a good group: we will definitely fight with Iceland and Croatia.
- Do you dream of playing against Messi?
I don’t think about the players I’m going to face. But I would be happy if Leo said he wants to play with Aaron at Barça, haha!
- Your father was a military man. What rank did he reach?
Before the major: there were silver eagles on his shoulder straps. In the late 1960s, my father fought in the Biafra Civil War (a self-proclaimed country in Nigeria). Dad told me that it was very hard: there was not enough food, children were dying ... A terrible time. During the war, my father was shot in the left shoulder, leaving a large wound.
- He wanted you to become a military man too?
Yes, and I wanted to play football. Fortunately, my older brother decided to follow in his footsteps, and I continued to do what I loved. In addition, my mother always supported me in this.
- You have a big family?
Two brothers and three sisters. And mom, she still works as an economics teacher at school. And dad died five years ago. Then I played in Norway, in "Valerengue", and the first two weeks I just could not come to my senses. It's incredibly hard to get through.
- Is it true that you started rooting for CSKA back in Nigeria?
Because of Chidi Odia. He was born in the same city as me, in Port Harcourt. Chidi was a very popular footballer in Nigeria, especially after winning the UEFA Cup. When I was 17, he came to the Dolphins Academy and gave all the guys a CSKA shirt.
- What did you spend your first salary on?
I brought all the money to my mom. The Dolphins paid me very little, about two hundred bucks a month. Only after moving to Norway, I began to receive already nine times more.
- Why do so many African footballers play in Scandinavia?
My agent lives in Scandinavia, he invited me to Valerengu. Naturally, it is much easier to progress there than in the African championship. 70 percent of Africans who play in Norway or Sweden then move to the top leagues. I thought Scandinavia is a good springboard for me.
- The only negative of Norway is the weather?
At Valerenga, it seemed to me that minus seven was very cold. In Russia, I realized that this is nonsense. In the cup game against Avangard, I simply did not feel my body. Seriously, I just wanted to end the game and run to the locker room.
- That is, you are not used to the cold?
It's impossible to get used to it! This is the craziest match I've ever participated in. It was just ... horrible how cold it was. I wanted to die - it was impossible to breathe. Ice covered my eyes and mouth, so that I could not see or say anything. When I tell my friends from Nigeria about this, they don't believe it!
- You started to score in the Norwegian “Sarpsborg”, but quickly left there for China. For money?
Not fixated on them. Even before moving to China, I traveled to Monaco. Only for negotiations, did not train. But I chose Guangzhou because Sven-Goran Eriksson personally wanted to see me there. This coach taught me a lot, with him I became a better footballer. So it's always better to move to the clubs where you are needed, and not where the managers have arranged everything. In China, I have probably spent the best seasons of my career.
- If it's not about money, comment on this photo.
I was talking to a friend on Skype. There was a wad of money in my pocket - I was going to go to the mall for clothes. We were just fooling around, and at some point I decided to do it. And my friend took a screenshot and immediately posted it on the Internet ... Now this photo will never disappear from there.
- The most expensive thing that you allowed yourself?
With one of the first salaries in Guangzhou, he bought his family a large house in Nigeria. I can spend money on a car - I bought myself a Range Rover for the first time in Norway, and now I drive a Bentley.
- Was it hard to get used to China?
I would not say that China is very different from European countries. Probably depends on the city, but I was lucky: Guangzhou is a metropolis for business, where many expats live. I lived there comfortably, although at first it was hard without family and friends.
- When you played at Guangzhou, were you really interested in Porto and Udinese?
Yes, I could go there. I talked about it with an agent. But then he just threw away from these options - I don't know what the matter is. I also heard that Everton approached me. The closest option, besides CSKA, was Stuttgart.
- In January you became a father. Was the son named after LeBron James?
My son is king! That's why I chose that name. The simple thought of my son inspires me.
- Did you move your family to Perm? Or is she in Dubai?
Now - in Nigeria. I can't say anything about the city - I'm here to play. After training, I immediately go home.
- Where would you like to play one day?
At Chelsea. This is a childhood dream.
- Will you return to CSKA or will you stay at Amkar?
Staying with CSKA, I think, is no longer possible. Coaches don't seem to need me. But I don't know yet where I will be in the summer. Tottenham scouts followed me in the fall. How serious everything is with him, I cannot say.
- Do you want to score against CSKA if you can play?
I don't want to prove anything to anyone. I was at CSKA, gave my best and tried to be useful. But if there is a chance to score, I will not miss it.
