Emanuel Aiwu

Aiwu spent seven years with his hometown club, SKN St. Pölten, before joining Admira Wacker in 2013. He came through the youth system to make his senior debut while still a 16-year-old, starting and playing the whole game for Admira II in the Regional League East on 1 September 2017. He made 15 appearances for Admira II, contributed three goals from nine matches for Admira U18 as they went on to win the 2017–18 Jugendliga, found his way into the first-team squad and, towards the end of the season, started three Bundesliga matches, the first coming in a goalless draw away to Austria Wien on 5 May 2018. The following season, Aiwu was a first-team regular, and in February 2020, reigning champions Red Bull Salzburg made an offer for his services. Although the fee received would have been a club record fee, in excess of the €2.5 million paid by VfB Stuttgart for Saša Kalajdžić, Admira turned it down, believing that Aiwu on the field was of more use to the relegation-threatened club than money in the bank. Admira stayed up Aiwu stayed on for a further season, taking his top-flight appearance totals to 81 matches and five goals. With the 2021 transfer deadline approaching and speculation rife as to Aiwu's future, he told his coach that he was not fit to play in that day's match against Sturm Graz. Although he insisted that he had not wanted to harm the team by playing while mentally and physically exhausted, his action was widely perceived as a strike in order to force a move, and…

Aiwu's first international appearance for Austria came at under-18 level in 2018. Called up for two friendlies against Ukraine, he was an unused substitute for the first match and started the second, a 3–0 win on 23 March. He made six appearances, scoring once, for Austria under-19s, and moved into the under-20s the following year. Aiwu was approached to represent Nigeria at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, but declined, preferring to continue within the Austrian system. Aiwu made his Austria under-21 debut in October 2019 in 2021 European Championship qualifier against Turkey, went on to make thirteen appearances, including seven in 2023 European qualifying, and captained the side.

As of match played 26 April 2026

Aiwu was born in Innsbruck, Austria, to a Nigerian father, Nathan Aiwu, and an Austrian mother, Heidi Semper, who began her training as a teacher of disabled people while Emanuel was still a baby. He has a younger brother, Elias. The family moved to St. Pölten in 2006, where the boys began to play football.