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The former Sunderland, Arsenal and Liverpool man remains a free agent after a series of trials
Former Sunderland man Ovie Ejaria remains a free agent after leaving Reading in 2024
Ejaria came up through the ranks at Arsenal and then Liverpool as a youngster and was sent out on loan to both Sunderland and Rangers during his time on Merseyside. The 26-year-old spent time at the Stadium of Light during the 2017-18 season.
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Sunderland were relegated from the Championship to League One under Chris Coleman, with January signing Ejaria playing 11 times during a disastrous campaign for the Wearsiders. The player was dubbed the “English Pogba” in some quarters before his arrival at the club but failed to live up to the hype in a struggling team.
Ejaria moved to Rangers on loan the following season before two seasons on loan with Reading. The transfer was made permanent in 2020 for a fee of around £3.5million. In total, Ejaria made 127 appearances for the Royals in all competitions before leaving the club via mutual consent in 2024.
After his release by Reading, Ejaria was reportedly on the radar of Championship club Sheffield Wednesday under Danny Rohl. Later, Ejaria was linked with a move to Leyton Orient, but a contract for the former Sunderland youngster is yet to materialise, and he remains a free agent.
In October last year, the player joined Egyptian giants Zamalek on trial with a view to a permanent move after flying into Cairo to join the club’s squad. However, Zamalek’s interest in the midfielder ended abruptly after the shocking resignation of head coach José Gómez.
Similarly, Ejaria also spent time at Oxford United on trial last summer under then-manager Des Buckingham. At the time, he said: “He came in at the start of the week and trained with us, and we said that we’d have a look. We’re a little light in the wide areas at the moment. We said we’d have a look in the games and go from there, and that’s as far as we’ve got at the moment.”
Asked whether Ejaria’s trial would continue last summer, Buckingham responded: “It’s not a conversation we’ve had yet, but we’ll review the games and have a chat with the player and go from there.”