Emanuel Aiwu

Emanuel Aiwu (born 25 December 2000) is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as a defender club Cremonese. He previously played Austrian Bundesliga football for Admira Wacker (2018–2021) and Rapid Wien (2021–2022) before joining Cremonese ahead of the 2022–23 Serie A season. He spent the 2023–24 season on loan at English Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City. He has represented Austria from under-18 to under-21 levels.

Early and personal life
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.

Club career
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 he and his family were victims of online abuse, some of a racist nature.

The following day, Aiwu joined another Bundesliga club, Rapid Wien, on a three-year contract. The fee was undisclosed. He made his debut on 15 September, starting in the home defeat against Genk in the Europa League group stage, and rarely missed a game thereafter. The club's sporting director, Zoran Barišić, said that Aiwu had gone to another level during the season, fulfilling all the expectations they had of him, and had behaved in a professional manner throughout.

On 5 August 2022, Aiwu joined Serie A club Cremonese, newly promoted to Serie A, on a four-year contract for a fee reported as €3.5 million. He played regularly for the first part of the season, but a mid-season change of management brought in a coach who preferred older, more experienced defenders, and although Aiwu was still a regular in the matchday squad, he rarely started. Cremonese were relegated, and it appeared that Aiwu saw his future at a higher level than Serie B.

Despite his adviser's mention of interest from top-five leagues, and reports of possible moves to Turkish Super Lig club Besiktas and to Burnley, newly returned to the Premier League, Aiwu signed for English Championship (second-tier) club Birmingham City on 31 August 2023 on loan for the season. The deal included an option to purchase. After a lengthy spell as an unused member of the matchday squad, Aiwu made his Birmingham debut on 3 October as a late substitute in a 4–1 win at home to Huddersfield Town.

International career
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.