Ki-Jana Hoever

Ki-Jana Delano Hoever (born 18 January 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liverpool.[4]

Ki-Jana Hoever
Hoever lining up for Liverpool in 2019
Personal information
Full name Ki-Jana Delano Hoever[1]
Date of birth (2002-01-18) 18 January 2002[2]
Place of birth Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Playing position(s) Centre-back, right-back[3]
Club information
Current team
 Liverpool
Number 51
Youth career
0000–2014 AZ
2014–2018 Ajax
2018– Liverpool
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019– Liverpool 0 (0)
National team‡
2017 Netherlands U15 4 (0)
2017–2018 Netherlands U16 6 (0)
2018–2019 Netherlands U17 12 (4)
2019– Netherlands U18 3 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 7 January 2019
‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 11 October 2019

Early years

Hoever was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands, but is of Surinamese descent.[5] His father, a former American football player, named him after former NFL running back Ki-Jana Carter.[6]

Youth career

Hoever started out in the youth ranks at AZ Alkmaar before moving on to Ajax in 2014. Hoever played 13 times and scored two goals in the Under-17 Eredivisie during the 2017–18 season.[7] Described as equally as comfortable playing at centre-half and right-back, Hoever completed his move to Liverpool in August 2018 from Ajax but had to wait until September 2018 for international clearance.[8] As he had not signed a professional contract, Liverpool only had to pay a minimal compensation and Ajax were reported to be bitterly disappointed to lose the player.[9] Manchester City, Manchester United and Chelsea were also reportedly interested in making the signing.[10] Hoever made his first Liverpool appearance in a 4–1 win for the under-18s against Newcastle on 15 September. Following that he was given a substitute appearance in the Reds' UEFA Youth League match at home to Paris Saint-Germain that ended in a 5–2 win on 18 September 2018. He later played the full 90 minutes at centre-half in the 5–0 win over Napoli that sealed Liverpool's U18s place in the knockout stages of that tournament.

By November 2018, Hoever had his U23s debut as a wide right midfielder against league leaders Everton at Goodison Park, which Liverpool won. His performance earned praise from U23 manager Neil Critchley, who said, “I thought his calmness and assurance, his decision-making, his intelligence without the ball, it was terrific. “I was very impressed with him indeed.” Hoever made further appearances at right-back for the U23s including receiving plaudits for his performance in a 4–1 win against the reigning Premier League 2 champions Arsenal.[11][12]

Professional career

In December 2018 Hoever began training with the Liverpool first team, with manager Jürgen Klopp describing him as "confident" and "a joy to watch."[13] Hoever was given the squad number 51 ahead of the FA Cup game against Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux Stadium on 7 January 2019. He started the match on the bench, but replaced an injured Dejan Lovren at centre-back in the opening minutes. Hoever's appearance made him the youngest ever Liverpool player in the FA Cup and their third youngest in any competition.[14]

He signed a long-term professional contract with the club on 31 July 2019.[15]

His first professional goal came on 25 September 2019 in an EFL Cup match against Milton Keynes Dons.[16] Upon scoring, at the age of 17 years, eight months and 10 days, Hoever became the fourth-youngest player to find the back of the net for Liverpool, behind Ben Woodburn, Michael Owen and Jordan Rossiter.[17]

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Hoever is of Surinamese descent.[5] Hoever is a Netherlands U17 international, scoring three goals in his first five games.[18] He participated in the U17 European Championships in Ireland in 2019, a tournament which the Netherlands won. Hoever started as the Netherlands beat Italy in the final with a scoreline of 4–2, a game which saw Hoever hit the post from a free-kick, which provided the assist for the Dutch's second goal.[19]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 4 February 2020
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League FA Cup EFL Cup Europe Total
LeagueAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Liverpool 2018–19[20] Premier League 0010000010
2019–20[21] Premier League 0010210031
Career total 0020210041

Honours

Liverpool

Netherlands U17

Individual

  • UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2019[25]
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    References
    1. "Updated squad lists for 2018/19 Premier League". Premier League. 1 February 2019. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
    2. "Ki-Jana Hoever: Overview". Premier League. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
    3. "Ki-Jana Hoever". worldfootball.net. Retrieved 19 January 2019.
    4. "Netherlands – K. Hoever – Profile with news, career statistics and history – Soccerway". us.soccerway.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    5. "Dit team van Nederlandse Surinamers kan Natio naar het WK helpen". Sportnieuws. January 19, 2020.
    6. Zucker, Joseph (2020-08-06). "Liverpool's Ki-Jana Hoever Talks Jurgen Klopp, Virgil Van Dijk, UCL in B/R AMA". Bleacher Report.
    7. Pearce, by James; 13:35, 17 Aug 2018 (17 August 2018). "Liverpool agree deal for Ajax star". mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2019.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
    8. "Liverpool FC". Liverpool FC. Archived from the original on 8 January 2019. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    9. Owen, Danny (17 August 2018). "Report: Ajax devastasted as Ki-Jana Hoever heads to Liverpool". Here Is The City. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    10. Beesley, Chris (14 September 2018). "The inside track on Ki-Jana Hoever as Dutch wonderkid gets green light for Liverpool". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
    11. Doyle, Ian; Marshall-Bailey, Tom (4 January 2019). "Who is Ki-Jana Hoever? Liverpool starlet who caught Klopp's eye". liverpoolecho. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    12. "Ki-Jana Hoever: 'Unbelievable' Liverpool youngster making a big impression already - Goal.com". www.goal.com. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    13. Markham, Carl; Gilpin, Andrew (6 January 2019). "Jurgen Klopp reveals why teen sensation Ki-Jana Hoever is a 'joy to watch'". Mirror Online. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
    14. Bascombe, Chris (6 January 2019). "Liverpool consider handing FA Cup debut to 16-year-old Ki-Jana Hoever". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    15. Carroll, James (31 July 2019). "Ki-Jana Hoever signs new long-term Liverpool FC contract". Liverpool F.C. Retrieved 29 August 2019.
    16. "MK Dons 0–2 Liverpool". BBC Sport. 25 September 2019.
    17. Shaw, Chris (25 September 2019). "Ki-Jana Hoever becomes fourth-youngest Liverpool scorer". Liverpool FC. Retrieved 26 September 2019.
    18. "Everything you need to know about Liverpool starlet Ki-Jana Hoever". Planet Football. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
    19. Williams, Sam (20 May 2019). "Ki-Jana Hoever's Netherlands won U17 Euros". Liverpool FC.
    20. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
    21. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
    22. Rose, Gary (14 August 2019). "Liverpool 2–2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
    23. Poole, Harry (21 December 2019). "Liverpool 1–0 Flamengo". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
    24. UEFA (19 May 2019). "Netherlands clinch title". UEFA. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
    25. "2019 Under-17 EURO team of the tournament". UEFA.com. Retrieved 3 June 2019.
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