The Prospects: Nehemiah Oriola, Brighton & Hove Albion

The Premier League 2 play-offs reached the quarter-final stage last week, and in the latter stages of any competition, sides need their big-game players to stand up.

There were some excellent displays over the course of the weekend, culminating in another all-Manchester semi-final.

But in the other half of the draw, Brighton & Hove Albion entertained West Ham United for a chance to face Tottenham Hotspur in the last four, and it was a diminutive left-winger that caught The Athletic’s eye.

Player: Nehemiah Oriola

Club: Brighton & Hove Albion

Date of birth: June 11, 2007 (18)

Position: Winger

The backstory

Oriola began his football journey at West Ham but switched to Manchester United in 2020 after impressing during a trial. He moved on to Brighton in 2023 after leaving United by mutual consent.

He signed his first professional contract a year later and has been in and around the first-team squad this season.

The teenager has been on the substitutes’ bench in the Premier League six times and made his senior debut as a substitute against Leeds United in November, albeit only for the last minute and stoppage time at the end. 

Nehemiah Oriola playing for Manchester United against Coleraine back in 2021 (Charles McQuillan/Getty Images)

However, manager Fabian Hurzeler is a fan and has described him as “an unbelievable talent”. “He’s a very good left-footed player,” he said after including the youngster in a senior squad against Newcastle United in October. “He’s very good one-on-one; he shows good reactions when he loses the ball.”

This season, he has scored 11 goals and provided six assists in 26 appearances for Brighton’s under-21s and went into the West Ham game with three goals in his previous four games.

He has yet to declare whom he wishes to represent at international level; Oriola was born in England to Ghanaian and Nigerian parents, so he has plenty of options.

What we saw

Quality players affect big games, and that is exactly what Oriola did against West Ham.

He was playing in his favoured left-wing position but had a very quiet start. Of the front three, he seemed to be the one looking to run in behind the Hammers’ defence while centre-forward Shane Nti dropped in a little deeper to link play, but he was not involved heavily in the game until midway through the first half.

Then we saw his explosive pace as Brighton played him in behind the defence. He burst away from his markers, only for his cutback from the byline to be intercepted.

Nehemiah Oriola is a winger of some promise (Stu Forster/Getty Images)

It was a trick worth repeating and he was in down the left flank again just minutes later, beating full-back Jethro Medine with a couple of stepovers before picking out Josh Robertson. His shot was blocked, but whenever Oriola received the ball in space, he looked to be positive.

One of the best examples was in the build-up to the first goal as an attack by West Ham, who were on top for long spells, broke down and Oriola picked up the ball just outside his own box and raced forward to win the corner that led to Callum Mackley’s opener.

He demonstrated similarly incisive movement again just before half-time as he ran inside the full-back to receive a pass before pulling the ball back for Nti to add the second. It was a much more even game than the scoreline suggested, with Oriola effectively the difference between the two sides.

He will be a player who will excite fans because of his natural attacking instincts. He was always looking to get forward and attack the opposition defence, and he demonstrated this mindset again just before the break when he took on three defenders only to overhit his cross.

Oriola had to show more of a disciplined side in the second period as the visitors pushed for a way back into the game, and Medine also showed his attacking tendencies, too, at times. Yet that effort was severely affected by the sending off of West Ham’s Joshua Ajala and, again, Oriola was involved.

Ajala was shown a straight red card for a lunge on the winger as he was attempting to pinch possession back for Brighton.

Oriola was substituted not long afterwards and Brighton went on to complete the 3-0 victory to reach the semi-finals, where they will face Tottenham. Their progress stemmed mainly from Oriola’s eye-catching performance.