Malcolm Ebiowei was a breakout star in a troubled campaign for Derby County last season as they were relegated from the Championship. 

The summer signing grew in confidence after being given his opportunity at The Rams late in the 21/22 season. 

With Derby unable to sign players after January due to a transfer embargo and administration, Wayne Rooney was left with little but to include academy and under-21 players in his team in a bid to prop up his squad. 

With Ebiowei, Derby unearthed a gem as a series of dazzling performances exciting crowds inevitably leading to speculation linking him with every top-flight football club possible. 

With the youngster's contract expiring at the end of the 21/22 season, he subsequently signed for Crystal Palace where he's been unable to break into the first team.

In a bid for first-team football, Eboiwei could find himself a temporary move as he looks to continue his development with reports linking him with a reunion with former Derby manager Liam Rosenior at Hull City.  

Attacking performance

The former Arsenal trainee had obvious talents with the ball at his feet as he was confident enough to continually take on opposition fullbacks. 

For Derby, according to WhoScored he averaged three completed dribbles per game over 16 appearances which would have put him at the highest in the league across a full season.

The likes of Josh Bowler, Siriki Dembele, Chris Willock and Djed Spence all averaged below three dribbles per game which highlighted even more how effective Ebiowei is with the ball at his feet. 

With an average of 1.2 key passes per game, it highlights the quality in his end product and although there is room for improvement, you'd expect that to be the case for a 19-year-old. 

With his ability to dribble and draw players in, Ebiowei was fouled often, averaging 1.3 per game but this would perhaps be higher if it wasn't for his quality with the ball at his. Bring in the fact that physically, he's well suited to senior football that number would certainly be higher as he shown he can ride challenges. 

 

 

Passing efficiency

For a player who wants to get the ball and run at opposition, Ebiowei has shown a need to improve other facets to his game. According to Sofascore, the youngster completed just 24% of his crosses, averaging 0.9 accurate balls into the box highlighting that his quality of delivery can improve. 

Not only that, but his efficiency in possession, particularly in the opposition half can also improve. He completed just 62% of passes outside his own half, showing a player needing to improve his decision-making and link up play with teammates. 

Whilst picking up just two assists, Ebiowei did create four other big chances which were not converted into goals by his teammates highlighting the lack of quality in the Derby team as opposed to winger not being creative enough. 

Defensive performance

Obviously, with an attacking player, you wouldn’t expect too much defensively from a winger. But it’s important to drill in good habits to a youngster and ensure they’re contributing all round. 

The 19-year-old averaged 1.3 tackles per games as pr Sofascore, showing he was contributing to the ugly side of the game. 

With Ebiowei still young, he’s got plenty of improving to do and the form he showed at Derby should excite supporters of Crystal Palace and Hull. 

He can turn a game on its head and will look to continuously beat his opposition defender, something Hull lack at the moment. Under Rosenior he thrived at Derby and will almost certainly thrive again at Hull City.