West Brom defender Semi Ajayi has learned from the best

An integral part of the Baggies side that won promotion last season, the Nigerian international is now showing he has all the attributes needed to shine in the top flight.

But the centre-back has had to overcome more than his fair share of set-backs in order to achieve his dream of playing in the Premier League.

The first of those set-backs arrived as an 19-year-old at Charlton – with Ajayi feeling he was forced out despite shining for their very successful under-21 side.

“I’d been at Charlton from the age of nine to 19 and, at the time, it was the first season that the under-21s league had been brought in,” he said.

“We won everything in our age group. The majority of the boys were offered extensions for one or two-year deals but I was only offered six months.

“I didn’t feel I deserved to be offered less than everyone else and decided to go elsewhere.”

Elsewhere ended up leading Ajayi to joining Arsenal – a time in his career he believes was crucial to his development.

“Charlton never came back with a better offer and I tried out with a few clubs – Crystal Palace, Norwich and a few others.

“Then I found myself at Arsenal. As soon as I was there, I knew that’s where I wanted to be and I signed a contract a week or so later.”

Ajayi says training with Arsenal’s world-class players immediately took his game to the next level – with the defender revealing Arsene Wenger and German international Per Mertesacker did everything they could to mentor him.

“Arsene was someone I had only seen on the TV up until that point,” the 27-year-old continued.

“But being able to pick his brains, learn from him, listen and study the information he was giving me was an amazing opportunity and brought my game on a lot.

“Training with Arsenal showed me the level you need to be at to make it to the top.

“I’d say the biggest influence on me was Per Mertesacker. He took a lot of time out to teach me the art of defending. He was always giving me pointers.

“But I got to 21 and still hadn’t made my senior debut. They were talking about an extension on my contract for another year.

“At that point, I was getting on the bench quite a lot for the first-team so I was third/fourth choice centre-back.

“But then they brought in another defender – pushing me further down the pecking order.

“I had a conversation with the boss and asked him what my chances were of playing first-team football.

“He was honest and said he couldn’t guarantee it and that let to me joining Cardiff.”

Ajayi admits his time in Wales did not go to plan – with the defender never actually making an appearance for the club.

“My career stalled at Cardiff if I’m being honest,” Ajayi said.

“I signed for two years but didn’t even play.

“The only good thing that came from my time there was that I made my professional debut out on loan.

“I had three spells. One at Wimbledon, one at Cambridge and then I played in the division above with Crewe.

“Then the following season I went on loan to Rotherham which is when I’d say that I properly settled and my career kicked on.”

After a successful temporary switch to the New York Stadium, Ajayi moved to the Millers on loan.

His impressive performances then helped the team with promotion to the Championship before he was snapped up by Albion.

“It’s been a surreal experience making my first few appearances in the Premier League,” Ajayi added.

“We’ve put in some really good performances which haven’t been justified by our points tally.

“The recent points we got against Man City and Liverpool prove if we keep working hard then we will get results.

“I’ve played in the top five leagues and that makes it even sweeter now that I’m playing at the top because my journey has been a bit crazy.”