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He’s brought a keen sense of fashion, too.

Adeniran, 24, is part striker, part haberdasher. In addition to being one of City SC’s leading scorers, he’s co-owner of his family clothing company.

At every City SC home game, he arrives at CityPark wearing an outfit from the company, , which sells men’s and women’s suits and native clothing from Nigeria. ´¡»å±ð²Ô¾±°ù²¹²Ô’s father, Adebisi, immigrated to the U.S. from the West African nation.

“It started off as a family brand, but we just love clothing in Africa and Nigeria in general,� Adeniran said. “We love our clothing; we love to show our style, to show our culture through our clothing. So I guess I would say it’s embedded in my blood; it’s inside of me that love for clothing. I love designing; I love the creativity.�

The company takes its name from the initials of Adeniran and his three siblings — Victor, Ayo, Pelu and Samuel — and has been up and running for about five years. The company’s website () bills it as a “bespoke tailoring and design brand.�

Adeniran credits his mother, Bonmi, with inspiring the business after outfitting the family for the wedding of one of his brothers.

“It’s all custom-made,� Adeniran said, “so you’ll never see someone wearing the exact same style as someone else, unless maybe it’s a wedding and maybe they want it to be matched to do that. ... We always tell people if you see someone wearing a VAPS outfit, they will not be wearing the exact same as someone else.�

In season, the amount of time Adeniran works on the family business varies, from 20 minutes to a few hours per day.

“During my free time, it helps me to keep my mind busy,� he said.

His responsibilities often revolve around marketing and modeling. Adeniran looks to make a fashion statement every game, turning the walk from the team’s training facility to the stadium into his runway. At the team’s home game on July 1, his first since rejoining the team after being loaned to a lower-division club, he wore one of his company’s dark green senator kaftans, with two wide light-green vertical stripes.

“I really like the ensemble he put together for (that game),� said teammate Kyle Hiebert. “He really dresses up for the game day.�

This past Saturday, for City SC’s game with Inter Miami CF, during which Adeniran scored his third goal in five games, he arrived wearing a navy blue kaftan.

The goal-scoring has not only earned him playing time — it’s also brought more attention to his clothes, as he has become a regular in post-match interview sessions.

A range of travel and languages

´¡»å±ð²Ô¾±°ù²¹²Ô’s father, Adebisi, played for Nigeria’s national soccer team and came to America to go to school and play soccer at in New York. He played in the , one of the unsuccessful precursors to MLS. Samuel was born and grew up in Houston but left home around 16 to try his hand at professional soccer in Europe, and since then, he has moved around.

He has played soccer with clubs in Portugal, Spain, Germany, England and Argentina. He returned to America during the pandemic and was playing in the organization of Seattle’s MLS team when City SC got him in a trade.

“It was hard at the beginning, obviously, just being away from family and everything like that,� he said. “But then over time, I started to get used to it, learning different things. You had to learn a lot of things on your own. I think it really helped me to develop and become the man that I am today.�

He speaks English, Spanish and Portuguese and says he can understand Yoruba, the native language of Nigeria. He’s working on German, which is the de facto second language of City SC because of its abundance of players from the German Bundesliga.

A lack of available minutes led to City SC loaning Adeniran to San Antonio of the USL Championship, in American soccer’s second division. The move was disappointing because playing in the top division is everyone’s goal, but there was a good side to it.

“Wherever I go, I want to play, I want to better myself as a human, better myself as a player,â€� he said. “So wherever I’m playing, I’m going to show what I can do, and ºüÀêÊÓƵ gave me an opportunity to come back and show myself and see what happens.â€�

City SC coach Bradley Carnell said Adeniran is “taking this and running with it.�

“He’s a weapon,� Carnell said. “He needs a ton of confidence. And I think through his performances and the freedom that we’ve given him, he’s rewarding his team and rewarding himself as well.�

´¡»å±ð²Ô¾±°ù²¹²Ô’s return to the team was dramatic. When it became apparent that Klauss, the team’s leading scorer, would be out for at least another month, the team decided to bring Adeniran back from his loan to San Antonio. City SC was about to play in San Jose, and with no nonstop flights from San Antonio to San Jose, Adeniran took an Uber the roughly 75 miles from San Antonio to Austin. He then flew to California to join the team. Without having practiced with his teammates, he went out and scored twice.

Klauss is still out, so Adeniran will still figure in City SC’s attack. And his scoring success will likely force Carnell to find a way to keep playing him when Klauss returns.

“I enjoy playing football,� he said. “I enjoy having my clothing line, I enjoy doing all those things. I’m just blessed to do it.�