Isaac Success Ajayi (born 7 January 1996) 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 le ...

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) ** Sm ...

for

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

club Udinese.

Club career

Success was born in

Benin City Benin City is the capital and largest city of Edo State, Edo State, Nigeria. It is the fourth-largest city in Nigeria according to the 2006 census, after Lagos, Kano (city), Kano, and Ibadan, with a population estimate of about 3,500,000 as of ...

. He started his career with local side BJ Foundation Academy appearing regularly for the side. In November 2013 Success agreed to a five-year deal with Udinese, starting January 2014, for a

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

400,000 fee. However, he was only granted a work permit in March of the following year, and immediately joined Granada CF, being assigned to the reserves in

Segunda División B Segunda División B ( en, Second Division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish Foot ...

. On 31 August 2014, Success made his first-team debut, starting in a 1–1 away draw against Elche CF at the age of 18 years and seven months, being their youngest player ever to appear in a

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known simply as Primera División in Spain, and as La Liga in English-speaking countries and officially as LaLiga Santander for sponsorship reasons, stylized as LaLiga, is the men's ...

match. He scored his first professional goal on 7 December, netting his side's only of a home draw against Valencia CF, for the same scoreline. On 7 August 2015, Success extended his link with the club, signing until 2019 and being permanently promoted to the main squad. On 1 July 2016, Success agreed a five-year deal with

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, a ...

in a record transfer fee, estimated around £12.5 million from Granada. He scored once in 19 appearances in the 2016–17 season and, after just one appearance in 2017–18 was loaned to Malaga on 31 January 2018. On 26 August 2021, Success signed for Italian club Udinese on a three-year deal.

International career

In 2013 Success was called up to Nigeria under-17's for the year's

FIFA U-17 World Cup The FIFA U-17 World Cup, founded as the FIFA U-16 World Championship, later changed to U-17 in 1991 and to its current name in 2007, is the world championship of association football for male players under the age of 17 organized by ''Fédération ...

, being also named

vice-captain Vice-captain, alternate captain (ice hockey) or vice-skip (curling) may refer to a role in a number of sports immediately below the role of captain. The vice-captain may have a number of different roles, including substituting as captain when the re ...

. He appeared in the first two games, but was sidelined during the rest of the tournament due to an injury. Success got his first call up to the senior

Nigeria Nigeria ( ), , ig, Naìjíríyà, yo, Nàìjíríà, pcm, Naijá , ff, Naajeeriya, kcg, Naijeriya officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf o ...

side for a

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

qualifier against

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most cent ...

in October 2016. On 23 March 2017, Success made his debut for Nigeria, coming on as a substitute in a 1–1 draw against

Senegal Senegal,; Wolof: ''Senegaal''; Pulaar: 𞤅𞤫𞤲𞤫𞤺𞤢𞥄𞤤𞤭 (Senegaali); Arabic: السنغال ''As-Sinighal'') officially the Republic of Senegal,; Wolof: ''Réewum Senegaal''; Pulaar : 𞤈𞤫𞤲𞤣𞤢𞥄𞤲𞤣𞤭 � ...

The Hive Stadium The Hive Stadium is a stadium in Canons Park, North London, on the former site of the Prince Edward Playing Fields in the London Borough of Harrow. The stadium is home to National League football club Barnet, London Bees of the FA Women's Cham ...

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Watford *

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

runner-up: 2018–19

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Success, Isaac 1996 births Living people Sportspeople from Benin City Nigerian footballers Association football forwards Nigeria international footballers Nigeria youth international footballers Nigeria under-20 international footballers La Liga players Segunda División B players Premier League players Serie A players Club Recreativo Granada players Granada CF footballers Watford F.C. players Málaga CF players Udinese Calcio players Nigerian expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Spain Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Italy Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Spain Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in England Nigerian expatriate sportspeople in Italy FA Cup Final players