Tolu Arokodare has continued his rapid rise at Ajax, and his latest outing against FC Sion has given Dutch football pundits fresh reasons to talk about the Nigerian striker’s game beyond the goals he scores.
Making his first competitive start for the Amsterdam giants, Arokodare scored twice as Ajax defeated Sion 5-3 in the second leg of their UEFA Europa Conference League play-off, sealing a 9-5 aggregate victory and a place in the league phase of the competition. He opened the scoring in first-half stoppage time, connecting with a cross from Abdellah Ouazane before finishing calmly.
Just six minutes into the second half, he doubled his tally, again teed up by Ouazane, extending Ajax’s lead to 4-2 before Oliver Edvardsen added a fifth. Sion pulled goals back through Winsley Boteli, who completed his own hat-trick in stoppage time, but the damage had already been done. Arokodare finished the contest with a 9.0 FotMob rating, the highest of any Ajax player on the night, and was subsequently named the club’s Player of the Match.
However, it was not only the finishing that stood out. According to ESPN Netherlands analysts Kees Kwakman and Hedwiges Maduro, Arokodare’s overall contribution against Sion was what really caught the eye. Kwakman argued that leaving the 25-year-old out of the starting line-up would now be difficult to justify, pointing to his work in duels and how his presence shapes the play around him beyond the two goals he scored.
Maduro, meanwhile, focused on the Nigerian’s physical profile and how effectively he used it. Standing at 1.97m, Arokodare gave Sion’s defenders a persistent problem, combining his size with intelligent movement rather than simply anchoring himself inside the box. Maduro highlighted the striker’s ability to hold the ball up and link play, he’s super strong, he’s pretty good at holding the ball up around the goal, but also in open play.
He’s tying up players, and he’s also scoring. Both analysts agreed his timing and variation of movement, rather than raw strength alone, were what made him such a difficult opponent to handle.
Arokodare’s first start had been a long time coming. Ajax have rotated between him, Marcos Leonardo, and Kasper Dolberg for the central striking role since the summer, with suggestions that the transfer fee invested in Leonardo may have influenced the pecking order.
Furthermore, the Nigerian’s fitness levels had reportedly not been where they needed to be, a lingering effect of being frozen out of first-team training at Wolverhampton Wanderers before his move to Amsterdam. Consequently, Kwakman revealed that he and his fellow analysts had been calling for Arokodare to start for several weeks, suggesting his conditioning was the main reason behind the delay.
Nevertheless, his performance against Sion appears to have shifted the balance decisively in his favour. The brace took his tally to four goals and two assists in five appearances since arriving on loan from Wolves this summer, having already scored and provided an assist in the first leg in Switzerland. As a result, he now looks set to be Ajax’s first-choice option through the middle heading into the new season.
Arokodare’s emergence as an undisputed starter at Ajax is a significant boost for the Super Eagles, who have leaned on a rotating cast of forwards in recent campaigns. His combination of aerial presence, hold-up play, and clinical finishing gives Nigeria a different profile up front compared to the pace-based options they have often relied on.
Given his struggles for regular football at Wolves before the move, his immediate impact in Amsterdam will be closely watched by the Nigeria Football Federation’s technical crew as they continue shaping their squad ahead of the 2027 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign.
Arokodare will be hoping to carry his form into Ajax’s domestic fixtures as the Eredivisie season progresses, with his place as first-choice striker now seemingly his to lose.
Meanwhile, the Conference League group phase draw will determine his next continental assignment for the Dutch club. Arokodare continued involvement and goal contributions will be a key talking point as Nigeria’s coaching staff finalise squad plans for upcoming international fixtures.
