Eberechi Eze

Eberechi Oluchi Eze (born 29 June 1998) is an English professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for Championship club Queens Park Rangers

Eberechi Eze
Eze warming up for Queens Park Rangers in 2018
Personal information
Full name Eberechi Oluchi Eze[1]
Date of birth (1998-06-29) 29 June 1998[2]
Place of birth Greenwich, England
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[3]
Playing position(s) Forward[4]
Club information
Current team
 Queens Park Rangers
Number 10
Youth career
2014–2016 Millwall
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016– Queens Park Rangers 104 (20)
2017–2018 → Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 20 (5)
National team‡
2018–2019 England U20 6 (0)
2019– England U21 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 20 July 2020(UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 21:13, 20 November 2019

Early life

Eze was born in Greenwich, Greater London.[5]

Club career

Eze appeared as a youth player at Millwall, before being released in 2016. Following his release, he was set to work part-time in Tesco and continue studying in college before trialling successfully with QPR, impressing the club's technical director Chris Ramsey.[6] Eze completed his signing for Championship club Queens Park Rangers (QPR) on 3 August 2016.[7] On 7 January 2017, Eze made his first-team debut in an FA Cup tie against Blackburn Rovers, featuring for 18 minutes before being injured and replaced by Yeni Ngbakoto.[8] The game resulted in a 2–1 home defeat for QPR.[9]

On 30 August 2017, Eze joined League Two club Wycombe Wanderers on loan until January 2018,[10] where he made a total of 20 appearances and played a part in Wycombe gaining promotion that season. He scored his first ever senior goal on 7 October 2017, netting a brace for Wycombe against Cambridge United.[11] Eze scored a further four times in total for Wycombe, putting in some eye-catching performances before returning to QPR in January.

After returning to QPR, Eze featured regularly for Ian Holloway's side, making 16 appearances and scoring his first goal for the club on 10 March 2018 against Sunderland, the only goal of the match.[12] Eze's second goal for QPR came in a 4–1 home win against Norwich City.[13]

Holloway left QPR in 2018 and his replacement, Steve McClaren handed Eze the number 10 shirt for the club.[14] A week later, Eze signed a new three-year contract with QPR, binding him to the club until June 2021.[15] Eze played 42 games in the 2018–19 season, scoring four times.

Eze scored 14 goals in 48 games across all competitions in the 2019-2020 season, which saw him become one of England's most promising young attacking players. Sporting Director Les Ferdinand was quoted saying he believes if he continues this form, he must be selected by three lions manager Gareth Southgate for the 2021 European Championships.[16]. On 3 August 2020, Crystal Palace made a bid in excess of £12 million which was rejected by QPR.

International career

Because Eze is of Nigerian ancestry,[17] he has trained with the Nigeria national team.[18] On 5 October 2018, he was called up to the England national under-20 team,[19] and made his debut on 11 October in a 2–1 win against Italy in the Under 20 Elite League.[20]

On 3 September 2019 Eze was called up to the England U21 squad by manager Aidy Boothroyd for the upcoming UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Turkey and Kosovo. He was an unused substitute on both occasions.[21] He eventually made his U21 debut on 15 November 2019 as an 81st minute substitute for Phil Foden during a 3–0 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification victory over Albania.[22]

Career statistics
As of match played 22 July 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Queens Park Rangers 2016–17[8] Championship 001000—10
2017–18[23] Championship 1621000—172
2018–19[24] Championship 4243010—464
2019–20[25] Championship 46141010—4814
Total 104206020—11220
Wycombe Wanderers (loan) 2017–18[23] League Two 205——2[lower-alpha 1]0225
Career total 1242560202013425
  1. Appearances in EFL Trophy

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 18th May 2019: Queens Park Rangers" (PDF). English Football League. p. 28. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  2. "Eberechi Eze". ESPN FC. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  3. "Ebere Eze". 11v11.com. AFS Enterprises. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  4. "Eberechi Eze". Queens Park Rangers F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  5. Fisher, Ben (14 November 2018). "Eberechi Eze: the young playmaker with the X factor at QPR". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  6. Gallagher, Sean (27 April 2019). "Ebere Eze EXCLUSIVE: QPR youngster on Millwall rejection, criticism from his own fans, Steve McClaren's sacking and much more". talkSPORT. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  7. "Eberechi Eze joins QPR under-21s". Queens Park Rangers F.C. 3 August 2016. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016.
  8. "Games played by Eberechi Eze in 2016/2017". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  9. "Queens Park Rangers 1–2 Blackburn Rovers". BBC Sport. 7 January 2017. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  10. Morrissey, Paul (30 August 2017). "Ebere Eze joins Wycombe on loan". Queens Park Rangers F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  11. "Report: Cambridge 1-3 Wycombe". Wycombe Wanderers F.C. 7 October 2017. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  12. "Match Report: QPR 1, Sunderland 0". Queens Park Rangers F.C. 10 March 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  13. "Queens Park Rangers 4–1 Norwich City". BBC Sport. 2 April 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  14. "Eze given QPR's iconic number 10 shirt". West London Sport. 25 July 2018. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  15. Morrissey, Paul (7 August 2018). "Ebere Eze signs three-year QPR deal". Queens Park Rangers F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  16. Piper, Alice (25 March 2020). "Eberechi Eze could be in line for England call-up, says Les Ferdinand". Sky Sports News. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  17. Emmanuel, Ifeanyi (31 December 2016). "Eberechi Eze close to joining Queens Park Rangers first team". All Nigeria Soccer. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  18. Kingsley, Igho (28 September 2017). "Super Eagles target Eberechi Eze turning heads in Wycombe". All Nigeria Soccer. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  19. Morrissey, Paul (5 October 2018). "Eberechi Eze gets England U20 call-up". Queens Park Rangers F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  20. Scriven, David (11 October 2018). "Eze provides assist on England U20 debut". Queens Park Rangers F.C. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  21. Collings, Simon (3 September 2019). "QPR forward Eze and West Ham's Diangana drafted into England U21 squad". Evening Standard. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  22. "GOALS FROM PHIL FODEN, CONOR GALLAGHER AND REISS NELSON SEE MU21S TO WIN IN ALBANIA". The Football Association. 15 November 2019. Retrieved 25 March 2020.
  23. "Games played by Eberechi Eze in 2017/2018". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  24. "Games played by Eberechi Eze in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
  25. "Games played by Eberechi Eze in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  • Profile at the Queens Park Rangers F.C. website
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