Ovie Ejaria

Oviemuno Dominic Ejaria (born 18 November 1997) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for  club Reading.  

He is a former England under-21 international.

Personal life
Ejaria was born and raised in England to Nigerian parents. He is an Arsenal fan.

Club career
Living in Southwark, Greater London, he grew up supporting Arsenal for whom he played for nine years before signing for Liverpool in 2014. His first competitive call-up came on 16 September 2016 in a Premier League match against Chelsea. He was an unused substitute in Liverpool's 2–1 victory. Four days later, he made his first-team debut against Derby County in the EFL Cup, replacing Roberto Firmino in a 3–0 victory.

On 25 October, Ejaria made his full debut in the fourth round of the EFL Cup in a 2–1 win over against Tottenham at Anfield. On 6 November 2016, he debuted in the Premier League, coming on as a substitute in Liverpool's 6–1 home win over Watford.

On 31 January 2018, Ejaria made a deadline day switch to Sunderland, signing on loan for the remainder of the season. He made 11 appearances in total as the club were relegated to League One. His only goal, and his first in senior football, came in the final match of the regular season when he opened the scoring in a 3–0 win over the eventual league champions, Wolverhampton Wanderers.

In June 2018, Ejaria moved on loan to Scottish Premiership club Rangers for the 2018–19 season, managed by former Liverpool captain and academy coach Steven Gerrard, after signing a new long-term contract with Liverpool. He made his debut on 12 July, coming on as a second-half substitute in Rangers' 2–0 UEFA Europa League win over Macedonian team Shkupi. He scored his first goal for the club in a Scottish Premiership match against Motherwell on 26 August. Four days later on 30 August he scored against Russian Premier League team FC Ufa in the away leg of the Europa League Play-off Round, the 1–1 result sent Rangers into the Group stage 2–1 on aggregate. In December 2018 his loan was curtailed earlier than planned and he returned to training with Liverpool.

On 7 January 2019, Ejaria joined Championship club Reading on loan until the end of the 2018–19 season. He rejoined Reading on 8 August on loan for the 2019–20 season, with Reading having an obligation to sign Ejaria permanently at the end of the season. On 2 July, Reading confirmed that Ejaria's loan deal from Liverpool had been extended until the end of July to account for prolonged 2019–20 season.

On 28 August 2020, Ejaria signed a permanent four-year contract with Reading which would earn him an annual salary of £650,000.

International career
Ejaria is eligible to represent England or Nigeria internationally. He trained with the Nigeria under-17 team in 2013 and stated that his international allegiance lay with the country in 2014. However, despite rumours of a senior Nigeria call up being in the offing, Ejaria accepted a call up to the England U20 team on 30 September 2016. He made his debut for the Under-20 team on 7 October, in a 3–1 win against Germany, playing the whole match.

Ejaria was selected for the England under-20 team in the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup. He made his first start in a game in the first round match against South Korea, and came on as a substitute the quarter-final against Mexico, but was an unused substitute in the final where England beat Venezuela 1–0.

He was called up for the England under-21 team in March 2018, making his debut in a friendly against Romania. He was called up again in May 2018 for the Toulon Tournament but had to withdraw from the squad due to an injury.

In December 2019, Nigeria national team coach Gernot Rohr urged the Nigeria Football Federation to get Ejaria to switch allegiance to Nigeria.

Career statistics

Honours
England U20
FIFA U-20 World Cup: 2017

References

External links

 Ovie Ejaria at the Reading F.C. website
 
 
 

1997 births
Living people
Footballers from Southwark
English men's footballers
England men's youth international footballers
England men's under-21 international footballers
Men's association football midfielders
Arsenal F.C. players
Liverpool F.C. players
Sunderland A.F.C. players
Rangers F.C. players
Reading F.C. players
Premier League players
Scottish Professional Football League players
English Football League players
Black British sportsmen
English sportspeople of Nigerian descent