Tolu Arokodare insists he is currently loving life in the Premier League with Wolves, despite the team’s difficult start to the season and missing out on a place in the Nigeria squad for this winter’s Africa Cup of Nations.
The larger-than-life striker found the net for the fourth time in his Wolves career in Saturday’s FA Cup victory at home to Shrewsbury Town, having not been called up for his country’s run to the semi-final, but remaining back at Molineux has seen Arokodare offer an important contribution to the Old Gold’s unbeaten start to 2026.
Arokodare has also helped contribute to the rise of Wolves starlet Mateus Mane, having taked his young teammate under his wing at Compton Park, while also getting the chance to present the 18-year-old with the SUDU Player of the Month award for December earlier this week. But the forward knows that not only Mane, but the whole team need to continue what they’ve been doing in recent weeks if Wolves are to maintain their streak in Sunday’s top flight home clash with Newcastle United.
On enjoying his football at Wolves
“Of course I am. I’m in one of the best leagues in the world, if not the best, playing for a very great team. I’m enjoying myself, I’m getting more playing time and helping the team, fighting for the team, doing what I love; playing football.
“I’m not injured, I’m not sick, I’m not in a hospital or anything, I’m alive. I’m proud of myself, my family’s proud of me, my friends are proud of me, and there’s nothing better that I could ask for.”
On missing out on AFCON
“My time with the national team, I haven’t really been playing too many minutes, although I have come on certain times and because I hadn’t really been playing here in Wolverhampton, it would have been very difficult for me to go there and get minutes, especially after my last couple of games with the national team, which weren’t really my best.
“It’s not like I don’t want to be there, but I’m not a starter here in Wolverhampton, I wouldn’t have been a starter there at AFCON, and then I would have had to come back and try to still fight for my place.
“A part of really wanted to be at AFCON, and part of me wanted to stay here and fight for my position. Although I didn’t get to go to AFCON, which did hurt, but on the brighter side, I got to start playing more games in Wolverhampton, so it’s been a win-win situation for me.”
On presenting Mane with the Player of the Month award
“He was my player of the month, so I was happy to give it to him. He’s been having an amazing month, or last two months. It just goes to show what we can do and the talents that we have as a team. But especially for him, I’m really happy for him.
“At a very young age, he’s making his breakthrough, but he’s stayed very humble and very calm headed about it, and that’s very good. He has the right mindset, and I think there’s more to come from him.
“Obviously, people expect more, and I think he’s going to give more, because he’s a very talented, hardworking kid, and we just have to hope for the best and hopefully he keeps scoring the goals, keeps making the assists and keeps getting us the points.”
Tolu surprises Mane with our SUDU December Player of the Month 🏆 pic.twitter.com/aYWDX44SKl
— Wolves (@Wolves) January 14, 2026
On being a mentor
“I’ve said to him already that it’s not always going to be like this. Those people that are singing your name now, they might – and they will one day – turn their backs on you. It might not be the Wolves fans, but in football, it’s like that. It’s normal.
“It’s always up and down, up and down, and we always pray for the ups, but sometimes the downs come, and you have to be ready for it mentally. But I think he understands that. He’s very calm about it, he’s being very humble.
“But I also think you should enjoy every moment of this, and he’s doing that too, he’s enjoying his life, enjoying his football, and he’s just doing what he loves to do. It’s amazing that at 18, you have your own song, so that is amazing and I’m happy for him.”
On his YouTube channel
“It’s going great. It’s something that I’ve always wanted to do and I also want to get into streaming, but for certain reasons, I haven’t done it. We’re obviously not having the best of seasons, and there are other things for me to focus on than streaming.
“I just feel it would be very inconsiderate and very unprofessional for me to do that, so that’s why I also haven’t posted any YouTube videos in a long time, because we’re obviously not having the best of seasons. There’s time for everything, and we’re starting to get back in our rhythm a little bit, and I’ve just now had this opportunity to put that video out there.
“But I’ve made a couple of videos since my Genk days, and I do have people who support me who enjoy what I post and like what I do. The ask when I’m putting out the next one and I just felt like maybe this is the right time.”
On returning to Molineux this Sunday
“The fans have been amazing. They’ve stuck with us since the start of the season. There’s definitely been moments where they’re frustrated, but they’re human beings, they’re football fans and they want to see their team win.
“When you go half of the season and you don’t see your team win, it’s very hurtful. It’s not always easy to be supportive in that situation, but they have been amazing and they’ve done an outstanding job. For example, even at the Arsenal, a game where we didn’t win, they’re still cheering us because we put up a good fight.
“They’re very appreciative of the work and the effort we put in, and that’s what keeps pushing us – the players – every day in training and in the games. We’re not just playing for ourselves, not just fighting for ourselves, we’re playing to put a smile on the faces of the fans, and that’s what we’re going to try to do this weekend.
“We know it’s not going to be an easy game, and the last time we played them we lost one-nil, but hopefully the results can be in our favour this weekend. I didn’t get to do my celebration against Shrewsbury, but hopefully I’ll get to do it this weekend.”
