Ian Carlo Poveda-Ocampo (born 9 February 2000) is a 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 an

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

or winger for club

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

. Born in England, he plays for the Colombia national team. He is a product of the Manchester City,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Brentford Brentford is a suburban town in West (London sub region), West London, England and part of the London Borough of Hounslow. It lies at the confluence of the River Brent and the River Thames, Thames, west of Charing Cross. Its economy has dive ...

youth system In sporting terminology, a youth system (or youth academy) is a youth investment program within a particular team or league, which develops and nurtures young talent in farm teams, with the vision of using them in the first team if they show en ...

s and has been capped by England at youth level.

Club career

Poveda started his career in the academy at Chelsea, where he was part of the same age group as

Rhian Brewster Rhian Joel Brewster (born 1 April 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Sheffield United. In 2017, he was part of the England squad which won the 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup in India and was awarded the Gol ...

, Marc Guéhi,

Conor Gallagher Conor John Gallagher (born 6 February 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for club Atlético Madrid and the England national team. Beginning his career with Chelsea, Gallagher spent time on loan at EFL Champi ...

and Reece James, before being poached by

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and then

. Poveda was reported to have had a brief spell with Malaga-based side Puerto Malagueno between his stints at Arsenal and Barcelona, but did not play for, or officially register, with them.

Brentford

Poveda joined the

academy An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of Athena, the go ...

at Brentford during the 2014 off-season, having left Barcelona due to the club being prosecuted for signing minors illegally. He was a member of the U15 squad which finished as runners-up in the Junior Vase at the 2015

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

and progressed to make 15 appearances and score three goals for the youth team during the 2015–16 season, which also included three appearances for the Development Squad. Poveda departed Brentford in July 2016, due to the closure of the club's academy.

Manchester City

On 18 July 2016, Poveda joined the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

club

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 ...

for an undisclosed fee and commenced a two-year scholarship. He was a member of the U18 team which finished as runners-up to Chelsea in the

2016–17 FA Youth Cup The 2016–17 FA Youth Cup was the 65th edition of the FA Youth Cup. The defending champions were Chelsea F.C., Chelsea and they retained the trophy for the fourth year in a row after a 6–2 aggregate victory over Manchester City F.C., Manchester ...

. Poveda took part in Manchester City's First Team's pre-season tour of the United States in the summer of 2018. After five

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

appearances and two goals for the U21 team during the first half of the 2018–19 season, Poveda made his senior debut for the club with a start in a 1–0

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 ...

semi-final second leg win over

Burton Albion Burton Albion Football Club is a professional association football club in the town of Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third level of the English football league system. The club moved its home g ...

on 23 January 2019. Poveda was named on the bench for Manchester City in their 3–1 EFL Cup victory over

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, ...

in October 2019, with

Pep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola Sala (; born 18 January 1971) is a Catalans, Catalan professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Football player, player from Spain who has been the manager of club Manchester City F.C., Ma ...

personally apologising for not bringing Poveda on after the game, with the midfielder set to come on before a goal from Southampton changed his in-game substitution. In November 2019, Poveda was called up to the Manchester City squad for their Champions League fixture against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

. In January 2020, Poveda held talks with

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Torino Turin ( , ; ; , then ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. The city is main ...

and

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 ...

side

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

, with contact also from

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

side

TSG Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into being in their modern fo ...

ahead of a possible move in the January window.

Leeds United

On 24 January 2020, Poveda signed for

on a four-and-a-half-year contract until June 2024 for an undisclosed fee and was assigned the number 7 shirt. Poveda stated that he was very excited to work under his new manager

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

. He made his Leeds debut on 21 June, as a second-half substitute in a 2–0

defeat at

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. After the English professional football season was paused in March 2020 due to the

impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on association football The COVID-19 pandemic caused disruption to association football (also known as soccer) across the world, mirroring its impact across all sports. Across the world to varying degrees, leagues and competitions had been cancelled or postponed. Clu ...

, the season was resumed during June, where Poveda earned promotion with Leeds to the

and also become the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

Champions for the 2019–20 season in July after the successful resumption of the season. His first start of the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season came on 16 September 2020 for

Leeds in a 1–1 draw against

Hull City Hull City Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Kingston upon Hull, East Riding of Yorkshire, England. They compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. They play their home ...

in the

. He made his Premier League debut in a 1–0 away win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history ...

on 27 September 2020. Poveda featured sixteen times for Leeds throughout the 2020–21 season. Poveda was released by Leeds in June 2024 at the conclusion of his contract.

Loan to Blackburn Rovers

On 23 August 2021, Poveda joined Championship club

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 ...

on a season-long loan. Poveda scored the first goal of his career on 6 November, scoring the equaliser in an eventual 3–1 home win over

. On 20 November, Poveda was taken off in the 44th minute of Blackburn's 1–1 draw with

Bristol City Bristol City Football Club is a professional football club based in Bristol, England. The team compete in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded in 1894, the club competed in the Southern League and Western L ...

after sustaining an injury to his left ankle. Blackburn later confirmed that following a scan, Poveda suffered both a fracture and ligament damage in his left ankle which would see the player ruled out for a significant amount of time.

Loan to Blackpool

On 27 August 2022, Poveda joined Championship side

Blackpool Blackpool is a seaside town in Lancashire, England. It is located on the Irish Sea coast of the Fylde peninsula, approximately north of Liverpool and west of Preston, Lancashire, Preston. It is the main settlement in the Borough of Blackpool ...

on a season-long loan. On 16 March, Poveda scored his first goal for Blackpool in new manager

Mick McCarthy Michael Joseph McCarthy (born 7 February 1959) is a professional Manager (association football), football manager, pundit and former Association football, footballer. He was most recently the head coach of Blackpool F.C., Blackpool. McCarthy b ...

's first win as manager.

Loan to Sheffield Wednesday

On 1 February 2024, Poveda joined Championship side

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an off ...

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut the following weekend in the 4–0 defeat against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, coming off the bench.

Sunderland

On 25 July 2024, following his release from Leeds, Championship side

signed Poveda on a three-year deal with the option to extend for an additional year. He made his debut in a 3–1 away win on 31 August 2024 against

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

, coming off the bench as a substitute.

International career

Poveda is eligible to play for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

at international level. He won his maiden call into the England U16 squad in August 2015. He was a member of the 2015 Nike International Tournament-winning squad. He was a member of the U17 squad which won the 2016 Croatia Cup. In March 2018, Poveda received his first international call-up for 18 months, for U18 friendlies versus

Qatar Qatar, officially the State of Qatar, is a country in West Asia. It occupies the Geography of Qatar, Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it shares Qatar–Saudi Arabia border, its sole land b ...

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

and a mixed-age

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

team. He appeared in each match and scored three goals. He also graduated to the U19 team in 2018. On 4 October 2019, Poveda was included in the

England U20 England national under-20 football team, also known as England Under-20s or England U20(s) or England Men's Elite Squad, represents England in association football at an under-20 age level and is controlled by the Football Association, the gov ...

squad for the first time and made his debut as a 72nd-minute substitute during a 2–2 draw away to Italy in the U20 Elite League. In December 2023, Poveda was called up to the Colombia national team for the first time.

Personal life

Poveda was born in London, England, to Colombian parents. During his youth years, he played youth tournaments for

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

schoolboys alongside

Jadon Sancho Jadon Malik Sancho (born 25 March 2000) is an English professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for Premier League club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, on loan from Manchester United F.C., Manches ...

and Reiss Nelson who also became professional footballers.

Style of play

Poveda plays predominantly as a winger or a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

, Poveda is capable of playing on both flanks or through the middle as an

or as a

false 9 In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bei ...

. Manchester City's website described his style as 'Nimble and fleet-footed', with the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'' describing him as having 'trickery and an eye for goal'. Poveda describes himself as 'an attacking player, I can play right wing, left wing or in attacking midfield, I like to dribble with the ball, link up the play, score goals, create chances, assist and I work hard for the team'. Poveda said in December 2019 that

Raheem Sterling Raheem Shaquille Sterling (born 8 December 1994) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Winger (association football), winger for club Chelsea F.C., Chelsea. Sterling began his career at Queens Park Rangers F.C., Que ...

was a big brother figure to him at

helping him with positioning and advice in training.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Leeds United *

: 2019–20

International

England U16 * Nike International Tournament: 2015 England U17 * Croatia Cup: 2016

References

External links

*
Ian Carlo Poveda
at the

Manchester City F.C. Manchester City Football Club is a professional football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. Founded in 1880 as St. Mark's (West Gorton), they became Ardwick Assoc ...

website
Ian Carlo Poveda
at TheFA.com * {{DEFAULTSORT:Poveda, Ian Carlo 2000 births Living people English men's footballers England men's youth international footballers English expatriate men's footballers Men's association football forwards Chelsea F.C. players Arsenal F.C. players FC Barcelona players Brentford F.C. players Manchester City F.C. players Leeds United F.C. players Blackburn Rovers F.C. players Blackpool F.C. players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players English people of Colombian descent Footballers from the London Borough of Southwark People from Southwark English expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Premier League players English Football League players Colombia men's international footballers 21st-century English sportsmen