Ki-Jana Hoever

In December 2018 Hoever began training with the Liverpool first team, with manager Jürgen Klopp describing him as "confident" and "a joy to watch." 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.

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 match against Milton Keynes Dons. 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.

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 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.

Hoever started out in the youth ranks at AZ Alkmaar before moving on to Ajax in 2014. Hoever played 13 times and scored two goals in the Under-17 Eredivisie during the 2017–18 season. Described as equally as 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. 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 United and Chelsea were also reportedly interested in making the signing. 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.

Ki-Jana Delano Hoever (born 18 January 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Liverpool.