Dapo Afolayan

Early career

Afolayan joined Harrow St Marys at under-5 level and moved into the youth system at Chelsea at the age of nine, having turned down the chance of a rival offer from Arsenal. He struggled with his short stature as a teenager and was restricted to playing as a winger. He left Chelsea at the age of 14 so that academy football did not get in the way of his schooling, at Merchant Taylors School. At the age of 15, Afolayan moved to Canada and spent time in Toronto FC's reserve squad in League1 Ontario and the Premier Development League. He later said that despite being just 16 he "trained with the first team quite a bit and played with the likes of Jermain Defoe, Michael Bradley, Jozy Altidore and Sebastian Giovinco". Late in the 2015 season, he played for ANB Futbol in League1 Ontario. He also played for the University of Toronto Varsity Blues, while in Canada. Afolayan returned to England at the age of 18 to study a civil engineering degree at Loughborough University. He spent time playing youth football at Barnet and Tooting & Mitcham United. He went on to play for the Loughborough University football team whilst studying, scoring three goals in 11 appearances for the club in the Midland League.

Solihull Moors

On 7 February 2017, Afolayan signed for National League club Solihull Moors; he had previously been on trial at Rochdale. Four days after joining the Moors, Afolayan scored on his debut, scoring the final goal in a 3–0 win over Sutton…

Afolayan won a cap for Paul Fairclough's England C team on 8 November 2017, coming on as a 76th-minute substitute for Fejiri Okenabirhie in a 4–0 defeat to eventual International Challenge Trophy winners Slovakia U23.

Afolayan can play as a winger or centre-forward. West Ham Academy director Terry Westley said in 2018 that he is an "interesting player" who is "aggressive, has great pace and the knack of scoring goal". Bolton Wanderers fans compared him to Jay-Jay Okocha due to the silky skills he produced whilst playing for them. Afolayan enjoyed these comparisons and after scoring against AFC Wimbledon in August 2021 he performed Okocha's signature goal celebration.

He left the Chelsea academy in order to concentrate on his GCSEs. He moved to Canada with his family but returned to England to study civil engineering at Loughborough University.