In The Spotlight: Eberechi Eze, Queens Park Rangers
In this weeks’ ‘In the Spotlight’, I focus on a player that I’ve witnessed many times first-hand and is hot with the media as the Winter Transfer window draws on us.
Who is Eberechi Eze?
When Wycombe Wanderers announced the loan signing of attacking midfielder, Eberechi Eze, from QPR on 30th August 2017, I’ll be honest, I said “who the bloody hell is this kid”.
After a bit of digging around, I found out he was a promising youngster that had been signed by Ian Holloway, for QPR, after being released by Millwall.
The young midfielder had obviously caught the eye of Holloway when he was in charge at the Den and signed him for the Hoops in 2016. I was excited to see him make his debut in the light and dark blue quarters.
Eberechi Eze at Wycombe Wanderers
Eze made his Wycombe debut away at Newport County as a late substitute in a 0–0 draw.
In the short term, he found it difficult to break into the side and make any real impact. As a spectator, it was obvious as to what his best position was. He didn’t offer enough defensively to play in a midfield two in a 4–4–2, and he wasn’t a wide player. His perfect position would be behind the centre forward in a 4–2–3–1.
As the weeks went on, Eze started to find his feet and show glimpses of magic.
Eberechi Eze Goals
Then, WOW, his brightest moment came away at Cambridge United in a 3–1 win.
Eze scored two excellent goals from outside the box, one with each foot.
This drew national attention, appearing regularly over the weekend in Sky Sports News in their goals of the day feature.
He would also go on to win goal of the month. I’m sure you’ll agree, both goals were spectacular, and this was the start of Eze’s journey to the top.
His performances were consistently excellent and soon became an integral part of the Wycombe side going into the Christmas period. With his ability to glide past players with ease and intelligent runs off the centre forward he went on to score a total of 5 goals in 22 appearances for Wycombe, also contributing several assists.
Eberechi Eze at QPR
Much to Gareth Ainsworth’s disappointment, QPR wouldn’t allow an extension of his loan deal and Eze returned to Loftus Road in January.
Eze left Wycombe with a new follower base. The Wycombe fans really took to him during the loan spell and to this day he is spoken about as one of the best players in recent times.
Holloway had obviously seen and heard many a glowing report of his performances for the Chairboys and decided to recall him and immediately placed him into his matchday squad.
Eze went on to make 16 appearances in the 2017–2018 season, scoring two goals, with his first being the winner in 1–0 win vs Sunderland.
Since that day at Cambridge, I had a feeling that this was the start of something special and I was proud to have been there right at the start.
Eze has gone on to tear up trees in the championship for QPR, undoubtedly becoming one of the first names on the team sheet.
Eberechi Eze for England
Eze’s ability has not gone unnoticed at National level either.
He’s made 6 appearances for England U20s and 3 for the U21s.
I was not surprised to see his name linked with top clubs in England during the summer of 2019, with Pochettino’s Tottenham a major player.
QPR will be delighted that they managed to hang on to him for the 2019–2020 season, in which he has bagged 9 goals in 21 appearances thus far.
Eze will, for sure, go on to bigger and better things. His next move is huge for him. He must make the right decision for his footballing career and ignore the money being thrown at him. I genuinely believe he has the ability to go on to and make a Dele-like impact on the Premier League.
With the right manager, team playing style and most importantly, personal attitude, the sky is the limit for him. And I for one, will be keeping a very close eye on this potential superstar.
Until next time…
R
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