Aina: Fulham have become a part of me and 'loan boys' did care

Torino wing-back Ola Aina has revealed Championship side Fulham has become a part of him.

The Nigeria international joined the Cottagers on a season-long loan from the Italian elite division, to strengthen Scott Parker’s defensive options.

Despite playing in 31 league games for them, the Craven Cottage giants got demoted to the English second-tier.

In a chat with the club’s website, the 24-year-old stated that he enjoyed his time at the London club.

“I’ve loved it,” Aina said.  “I get asked this question all the time by a lot of people, and even though we’ve been relegated, I’ve loved every minute of this season.

“I’ve loved the challenge, the coaching staff, my teammates, and I’ve loved the club as well. I’ve loved this club, it’s a very nice club.

“The club has become a part of me, and a part of all the other loan players, and I think you can see that.

“Even though we’re here on loan, we’re all part of the same fight. I really think the loan boys have taken up the challenge.

“Off the pitch, we’ve always been very close with each other. We like each other’s company, so it’s been a really good group.

“We did really care about this season and how we did. It went wrong, but trust me, we really did care.”

Since making his bow for the team in the Carabao Cup encounter against Brentford, the former Chelsea star become a regular figure in Parker’s team, while accentuating his relevance with impressive displays.

“The beginning for me, my first match, was a bit shaky,” he added.

“But since then I feel like the team and the coaching staff put a lot of time into me and I do feel I’ve improved since I’ve come in, so it’s been a great year for me in that sense, to play consistent Premier League football.

“It was a difficult start for us. Then in the middle of the season, things started to look up. We were playing well, playing some good football and picking up some good results.

“Then after that, we just seemed to run out of steam. But we still tried to do things the right way, we wanted to play good football.”