- Profile at the Udinese Calcio website (in Italian)
- Isaac Success at BDFutbol
- Isaac Success at Soccerbase
- Isaac Success at Soccerway
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Isaac Success Ajayi[1] | ||
| Date of birth | 7 January 1996 | ||
| Place of birth | Benin City, Nigeria | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Udinese | ||
| Number | 7 | ||
| 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– | Udinese | 53 | (3) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2013 | Nigeria U17 | 7 | (7) |
| 2015–2016 | Nigeria U20 | 4 | (2) |
| 2017– | Nigeria | 4 | (0) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 31 August 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 17 August 2022 | |||
Isaac Success Ajayi (born 7 January 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Udinese.
Success was born in Benin City. He started his career with local side BJ Foundation Academy appearing regularly for the side.[2]
In November 2013 Success agreed to a five-year deal with Udinese, starting January 2014,[3] for a €400,000 fee.[4] However, he was only granted a work permit in March of the following year,[5] and immediately joined Granada CF, being assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.[6]
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,[7] being their youngest player ever to appear in a La Liga match.[8] 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.[9] On 7 August 2015, Success extended his link with the club, signing until 2019 and being permanently promoted to the main squad.[10]
On 1 July 2016, Success agreed a five-year deal with Watford in a record transfer fee, estimated around £12.5 million from Granada.[11] 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.[12]
On 26 August 2021, Success signed for Italian club Udinese on a three-year deal.[13][14]
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.[15] Success got his first call up to the senior Nigeria side for a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifier against Zambia in October 2016.[16] 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.[17]
| 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[19] | La Liga | 19 | 1 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2015–16[20] | 30 | 6 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 33 | 6 | ||||
| Total | 49 | 7 | 7 | 0 | — | — | 56 | 7 | ||||
| Watford | 2016–17[21] | Premier League | 19 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |
| 2017–18[22] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 1 | 0 | |||
| 2018–19[23] | 30 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | — | 35 | 4 | |||
| 2019–20[24] | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |||
| 2020–21[25] | Championship | 9 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 9 | 1 | ||
| Total | 63 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 71 | 6 | ||
| Málaga (loan) | 2017–18 | La Liga | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | ||
| Udinese | 2021–22[26] | Serie A | 22 | 2 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 24 | 3 | ||
| 2022–23[27] | 30 | 1 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 32 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 52 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 56 | 5 | ||
| Career total | 193 | 22 | 15 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 212 | 27 | ||
Watford