Rotherham defender Semi Ajayi has been called up to the senior national team of Nigeria for their upcoming African Cup of Nations Qualifiers against Seychelles, Owngoalnigeria.com can exclusively reveal.
24 year old Ajayi has been ever present for Rotherham this season and his form has caught the attention of coach of the senior national team of Nigeria Gernot Rohr, who is rebuilding his squad after their participation at the World Cup in Russia.
Ajayi trained with the Nigeria U20 team of 2013 and even played at the Toulon tournament with his maiden appearance coming in the 1-1 draw against Belgium before making two more appearances in the games against Portugal and Brazil.
However he missed out on the final squad for the World Cup, but same summer he secured a high profile move to Arsenal but after failing to make the grade at the Emirates, he was loaned to Cardiff City.
In 2015, his loan stint at Cardiff was made permanent ‎after the expiration of his contract at Arsenal and he signed a two year deal, he failed to once again make an impact at the club and after impressing while on loan at Rotherham, he was signed permanently by the club last summer.
He has since established himself as a regular in the team this season in the English Championship and that has earned him a spot in the senior national team of Nigeria for the first team.
Michael James
