Ki-Jana Hoever

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 (age 22) [2]
Place of birth	Amsterdam, Netherlands
Height	1.83 m (6 ft 0 in) [2]
Position(s)	Centre-back, right-back [3]
Team information
Current team	Stoke City (on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers)
Number	17
Youth career
0000–2014	AZ
2014–2018	Ajax
2018–2019	Liverpool
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2019–2020	Liverpool	0	(0)
2020–	Wolverhampton Wanderers	20	(0)
2022–2023	→ PSV (loan)	5	(0)
2022–2023	→ Jong PSV (loan)	2	(0)
2023	→ Stoke City (loan)	15	(4)
2023–	→ Stoke City (loan)	38	(4)
International career‡
2017	Netherlands U15	4	(0)
2017–2018	Netherlands U16	6	(0)
2018–2019	Netherlands U17	12	(4)
2019–2021	Netherlands U18	3	(0)
2021–	Netherlands U21	5	(1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:31, 20 April 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 June 2022

Ki-Jana Delano Hoever (born 18 January 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for EFL Championship club Stoke City, on loan from Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers. ^[4] Hoever is a Liverpool youth academy graduate, but limited appearances brought him to join Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020.

Early years

Hoever was born in Amsterdam, Netherlands and 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 Ajax in 2010. Hoever played 13 times and scored two goals in the Under-17 Eredivisie during the 2017–18 season. ^[7] Described as equally 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

Liverpool

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]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 19 September 2020, Hoever completed a £9 million transfer to Wolverhampton Wanderers. ^[18] Hoever made his first appearance in the Premier League, and his debut for Wolves, as a second-half substitute in a 4–0 defeat away to West Ham United on 27 September 2020. ^[19] He made his debut Molineux appearance for Wolves in the team's next match, a 1–0 victory in the Premier League over Fulham on 4 October 2020, also as a second-half substitute. ^[20]

Hoever made his full Premier League debut away to Manchester United on 29 December 2020, a game which Wolves lost narrowly to a deflection in added time. ^[21]

Loan to PSV

On 23 June 2022, Hoever joined PSV on a season-long loan. ^[22]

Loan to Stoke City

On 27 January 2023, Hoever joined Championship club Stoke City on loan until the end of the season. ^[23] On 10 March 2023 he scored his first goals for the club, netting twice in a 3–2 home victory over Blackburn Rovers. ^[24] Hoever made 17 appearances, scoring four goals from full back, becoming a popular player amongst the supporters during his short time at the club. ^[25] On 21 July 2023 Hoever returned to Stoke on loan for the 2023–24 season. ^[26]

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. ^[27] 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. ^[28]

Career statistics

As of match played 20 April 2024

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Liverpool	2018–19 [29]	Premier League	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2019–20 [30]	Premier League	0	0	1	0	2	1	0	0	3	1
	2020–21 [31]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		0	0	2	0	2	1	0	0	4	1
Wolverhampton Wanderers	2020–21 [31]	Premier League	12	0	3	0	0	0	—		15	0
	2021–22 [32]	Premier League	8	0	0	0	2	0	—		10	0
	2022–23 [33]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	2023–24 [34]	Premier League	0	0	0	0	0	0	—		0	0
	Total		20	0	3	0	2	0	0	0	25	0
Wolverhampton Wanderers U21	2020–21 [31]	—	—		—		—		3 [lower-alpha 1]	0	3	0
PSV Eindhoven (loan)	2022–23 [33]	Eredivisie	5	0	0	0	—		3 [lower-alpha 2]	0	8	0
Jong PSV (loan)	2022–23 [33]	Eerste Divisie	2	0	—		—		—		2	0
Stoke City (loan)	2022–23 [33]	Championship	15	4	2	0	0	0	—		17	4
	2023–24 [34]	Championship	38	4	1	0	3	0	—		42	4
	Total		53	8	3	0	3	0	—		59	8
Career total			80	8	8	0	7	1	6	0	101	9

1. Appearances in EFL Trophy
2. One appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Liverpool

• UEFA Super Cup: 2019 ^[35]
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2019 ^[36]

PSV

• Johan Cruyff Shield: 2022 ^[37]

Netherlands U17

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2019 ^[38]

Individual

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2019 ^[39]

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. Ki-Jana Hoever at Soccerway
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, James (17 August 2018). "Liverpool agree deal for Ajax star". mirror. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
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. "Ki-Jana Hoever: Wolves sign defender from Liverpool on five-year deal". Sky Sports. 19 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
19. Sutcliffe, Steve (27 September 2020). "West Ham United 4–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Jarrod Bowen scores twice as Hammers register first win". BBC Sport. Retrieved 27 September 2020.
20. Sutcliffe, Steve (4 October 2020). "Wolverhampton Wanderers 1–0 Fulham: Pedro Neto's goal condemns visitors to fourth straight loss". BBC Sport. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
21. Stone, Simon (29 December 2020). "Manchester United 1–0 Wolverhampton Wanderers: Marcus Rashford scores late winner". BBC Sport. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
22. "KI-JANA HOEVER COMPLETES A SEASON-LONG LOAN TO PSV". PSV. 23 June 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2022.
23. "Hoever makes it a hat-trick". www.stokecityfc.com. 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
24. "Championship: Stoke 3-2 Blackburn - Hoever scores twice for Potters". BBC Sport. 2023-03-09. Retrieved 2023-03-10.
25. "Alex Neil insists breakout Wolves star 'should be' Stoke City favourite". Stoke Sentinel. Retrieved 10 May 2023.
26. "Ki-Jana Hoever returns to Stoke City". Stoke City. Retrieved 21 July 2023.
27. "Everything you need to know about Liverpool starlet Ki-Jana Hoever". Planet Football. 15 December 2018. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
28. Williams, Sam (20 May 2019). "Ki-Jana Hoever's Netherlands won U17 Euros". Liverpool FC.
29. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2018/2019". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 8 January 2019.
30. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2019/2020". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 25 September 2019.
31. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2020/2021". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 5 May 2021.
32. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2021/2022". Soccerbase. Centurycomm. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
33. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2022/2023". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
34. "Games played by Ki-Jana Hoever in 2023/2024". Soccerbase. Centurycomm.
35. Rose, Gary (14 August 2019). "Liverpool 2–2 Chelsea". BBC Sport. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
36. Poole, Harry (21 December 2019). "Liverpool 1–0 Flamengo". BBC Sport. Retrieved 21 December 2019.
37. "Ajax - PSV". PSV.nl. 30 July 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
38. UEFA (19 May 2019). "Netherlands clinch title". UEFA. Retrieved 19 May 2019.
39. "2019 Under-17 EURO team of the tournament". UEFA.com. 20 May 2019. Retrieved 30 December 2022.

External links

• Profile at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website
• Ki-Jana Hoever at Premier League
• Ki-Jana Hoever – UEFA competition record ( archive )