Ki-Jana Delano Hoever (born 18 January 2002) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a defender for

Auxerre Auxerre ( , , Burgundian language (Oïl), Burgundian: ''Auchoirre'') is the capital (Prefectures in France, prefecture) of the Yonne Departments of France, department and the fourth-largest city in the Burgundy historical region southeast of Par ...

, on loan from club

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

Early years

Hoever was born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Netherlands and is of

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

se descent. His father, a former

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

player, named him after former

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offense ...

Ki-Jana Carter Kenneth Leonard "Ki-Jana" Carter (; born September 12, 1973) is an American former professional football running back who played in the National Football League (NFL) for eight seasons. He played college football for the Penn State Nittany Lio ...

Youth career

Hoever started out in the youth ranks at

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

in 2010. Hoever played 13 times and scored two goals in the Under-17 Eredivisie during the 2017–18 season. Described as equally comfortable playing at centre-half and right-back, Hoever completed his move to Liverpool in August 2018 from

but had to wait until September 2018 for international clearance. 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.

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

and Chelsea were also reportedly interested in making the signing. Hoever made his first

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

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 The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

match at home to

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

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 Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

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 Goodison Park is a Association football, football stadium in Walton, Liverpool, Walton, Liverpool, England, it was the home of Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton from 1892 until 2025. It is now the home of Everton F.C. (women), Everton's ...

, which Liverpool won. His performance earned praise from U23 manager

Neil Critchley Neil Critchley (born 18 October 1978) is an English football coach who was most recently the head coach of Scottish Premiership club Heart of Midlothian F.C., Heart of Midlothian. A former association football, footballer, he previously played ...

, 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.

Club career

Liverpool

In December 2018 Hoever began training with the Liverpool first team, with manager

Jürgen Klopp Jürgen Norbert Klopp (; born 16 June 1967) is a German football executive and former Manager (association football), manager and Football player, player. He is widely regarded as one of the best football managers in the world. Klopp has been ...

describing him as "confident" and "a joy to watch." Hoever was given the squad number 51 ahead of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

game against

Molineux Stadium Molineux Stadium ( ) is a association football, football stadium situated in Wolverhampton, West Midlands (county), West Midlands, England. It has been the home ground of Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C., Wolverhampton Wanderers ...

on 7 January 2019. He started the match on the bench, but replaced an injured

Dejan Lovren Dejan Lovren (; born 5 July 1989) is a Croatian professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club PAOK. Lovren began his career at Dinamo Zagreb before moving to Lyon in January 2010. He spent three and a half seas ...

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. He signed a long-term professional contract with the club on 31 July 2019. His first professional goal came on 25 September 2019 in an

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

match against

Milton Keynes Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

. 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 Benjamin Luke Woodburn (born 15 October 1999) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Salford City and the Wales national team. A versatile player, Woodburn can be deployed as a central midfielder, attacking midfielde ...

Michael Owen Michael James Owen (born 14 December 1979) is an English former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Striker (association football), striker for Liverpool F.C., Liverpool, Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid, Newcastle United ...

and Jordan Rossiter.

Wolverhampton Wanderers

On 19 September 2020, Hoever completed a £9 million transfer to

. 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 West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

on 27 September 2020. He made his debut Molineux appearance for Wolves in the team's next match, a 1–0 victory in the Premier League over

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on 4 October 2020, also as a second-half substitute. Hoever made his full Premier League debut away to

on 29 December 2020, a game which Wolves lost narrowly to a deflection in added time.

Loan to PSV

On 23 June 2022, Hoever joined PSV on a season-long loan.

Loan to Stoke City

On 27 January 2023, Hoever joined

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

club

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

on loan until the end of the season. On 10 March 2023 he scored his first goals for the club, netting twice in a 3–2 home victory over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. Hoever made 17 appearances, scoring four goals from full back, becoming a popular player among the supporters during his short time at the club. Hoever returned to Stoke on loan for the 2023–24 season. He scored on the opening day of the season in a 4–1 win against

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. Stoke were involved in a relegation fight throughout the campaign with Hoever making some mistakes leading to opposition goals. Stoke's and Hoever's form picked up towards the end of the season and they secured their Championship status in the penultimate game against

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

Loan to Auxerre

On 21 August 2024, Hoever joined newly-promoted

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

on a season-long loan deal.

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Hoever is of Surinamese descent. Hoever is a Netherlands U17 international, scoring three goals in his first five games. He participated in the U17 European Championships in Ireland in 2019, a tournament which the Netherlands won. Hoever started as the Netherlands beat

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

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.

Career statistics

Honours

Liverpool *

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

: 2018–19 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

PSV *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

Netherlands U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual Association football, football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain national under-17 football team, ...

Individual *UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

References

External links

Profile
at the Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. website
Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hoever, Ki-Jana 2002 births Living people Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Men's association football central defenders Men's association football fullbacks Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Liverpool F.C. players Wolverhampton Wanderers F.C. players AZ Alkmaar players AFC Ajax players PSV Eindhoven players Stoke City F.C. players AJ Auxerre players Premier League players Eredivisie players Jong PSV players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players Ligue 1 players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen