After helping St. Pauli win promotion last season, forward Oladapo Afolayan is relishing the opportunity to test himself in the rarefied air of the Bundesliga. In an exclusive interview with bundesliga.com, the Englishman sat down to discuss his love for Pauli and Hamburg, his atypical career path, the quality of Germany's top flight, kickabouts with Bayern's Michael Olise and more...

At 27 years of age, Oladapo 'Dapo' Afolayan is at what many would consider to be the mid-point of a footballer's career, but the London native has already packed in more action than many players will in their entire time in the game. His idiosyncratic journey has seen him go from the Chelsea youth set-up to Canadian semi-professional football and from there to England's lower divisions, the Premier League and finally Germany, where he has found a real home at St. Pauli.

After arriving from Bolton Wanderers in January of 2023, Afolayan quickly worked his way into current Brighton and Hove Albion coach Fabian Hürzeler's starting XI, ending the season with three goals and two assists. The Englishman took this momentum and ran with it the following season, notching nine goals and three assists - including a brace and an assist in the 3-1 home win over Osnabrück that secured Pauli's return to the Bundesliga after an 11-year absence.

Watch: Pauli make it back to the big time!

Now relishing the challenge of keeping the one-of-a-kind Hamburg club in Germany's top flight, Afolayan is loving his Bundesliga life at St. Pauli.

"It's a great club, it's a club that's given me a platform to play on the highest level and I think that's the biggest thing for me," said the wide-eyed 27-year-old. "I left my old club looking to play higher and to test my abilities at the next level and to do that in the second Bundesliga for a year and a half was really good and then with this year in the Bundesliga, it's a dream come true for me."

The impact of the cult club's unique culture and legendary supporter base is also a big factor for Afolayan.

"I can't be thankful enough to the club and the staff who brought me here to give me the opportunity to play in front of a wonderful set of fans," beamed the man who was involved in all three goals as Pauli secured a first Bundesliga home win in 13 years, 3-1 over Kiel on Matchday 12. "We get nearly 30,000 every time - every time we step out at home, whether we're playing Osnabrück or we're playing Bayern. So yes, I think it's a special thing, it's a special place; tickets are hard to get for a reason because it's a really great place to be."

Watch: Pauli claim first home Bundesliga win in 13 years!

About the players

17

Michael Akpovie

Olise

FC Bayern München

17

Oladapo Joshua

Afolayan

FC St. Pauli

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While the long-awaited home win was a thrilling occasion for the fans and players alike, the fact that that it materialised only in the 12th match of the league campaign speaks to the enormity of the task of securing survival in the Bundesliga. However, while Pauli have struggled on some fronts in their return to the big time, they have also notched some benchmark performances, with the 3-0 win away to high-flying Freiburg on Matchday 5 a shining example.

"We arrived with a game plan and obviously we executed it really well," detailed Afolayan who, teed up by Elias Saad, bagged his first Bundesliga goal in the clash at the Europa-Park Stadion in late September. "Freiburg was special because it was our first win in the Bundesliga and obviously to be able to score and create and also set up a goal as well was good. So the Freiburg game would be the highlight of the season so far, I'd say."

Watch: Afolayan key as Pauli clinch first win of season

The fact that Afolayan ended the match with an assist - he returned the favour and teed up Saad - hints at the team-centric mentality of the game in Germany, which sets it apart from other leagues he has experienced.

"I would say in the Premier League you've got a lot of individual quality. Teams back home tend to play more individually based and not more as a unit. In Germany, everything's really tactical, and especially here [at St. Pauli], where we haven't got multi-millions to spend on world-class players. We have to either find really, really good players for cheap or we have to develop our own."

Development is a key term for the ambitious Afolayan, who has always been determined to make the most of his experiences along the winding road that has led him to the north of Germany - starting with his formative seven-year stint at the Chelsea Youth Academy.

"Everything there was really fantastic and helped guide us into being not just good footballers but also good men, as well. We were competing on the European and world stages and we were winning tournaments from a young age, and it really drove that winning mentality into all of us as players," he recalled of his start in the game, which was followed by a spell with Chelsea's cross-town rivals West Ham a few years later.

"West Ham was a great time for me, it really taught me how to be a true professional by managing the day-to-day workings of being a professional footballer. It gave me something to look up to, to the top level by seeing some top, top Premier League players playing. The training every day was really good for me, and obviously set the level for me in terms of what I wanted to reach. Hopefully now I'm closer to that and can keep pushing towards it." 

Pauli's Oladapo Afolayan and Eric Smith celebrating the win over Hansa Rostock on their way to the Bundesliga 2 title in 2023/24. - IMAGO/Noah Wedel

Despite setting his sights high, Afolayan still loves nothing more than what got him started in the game as a small child in football-mad London - having a kick-about in the streets. Just because it's informal, that doesn't mean you won't run into the likes of... Bayern Munich star Michael Olise.

"It's just something we do when we're in London, especially in the off-season if we want to just play some football with some friends. We all just call on each other. I came to a session and Michael was there. This was just before he was heading to Bayern. He's an unbelievable player. It is not just his quality - a lot of people don't realise how great his mentality is and his attitude. He's a multi-million pound player, but he's working just as hard as anyone else in those sessions. It's something a lot of us look forward to because we get to see friends that we grew up with and played with all our lives. And as we're all around the world, me in Germany, Michael in Germany, other friends playing in other parts of Europe and other parts of the UK, being able to all come together back in London and see each other is always good fun."

Watch: The rise of Michael Olise

Having featured in all 12 of St. Pauli's Bundesliga outings - as well as both DFB Cup matches - Afolayan is clearly central to coach Alexander Blessin's plans. Now that his dream of playing top-flight football has come true, what's next for the young journeyman? 

"I want to keep playing at the highest level as long as possible. I've always wanted to play in the Premier League, and I've always wanted to play Champions League football and Bundesliga as well. So, I want to keep pushing and try to push to that level. It's down to me, I'm on the pitch now, I'm playing at the highest level," said the former England C international, whose Nigerian parentage also makes him eligible for the Super Eagles. "For me, I want to kick on again and play international football. I want to play for Nigeria at the next World Cup, and hopefully as long as my performances keep being strong and improving, then I'll do that."