Zeki Fryers

Ezekiel David Fryers (born 9 September 1992) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back for AFC Eskilstuna.

Zeki Fryers
Fryers in 2013
Personal information
Full name Ezekiel David Fryers[1]
Date of birth (1992-09-09) 9 September 1992
Place of birth Manchester, England
Height 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m)[2]
Position(s) Left-back
Team information
Current team
 AFC Eskilstuna
Number 3
Youth career
Fletcher Moss Rangers
2009–2011 Manchester United
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Manchester United 2 (0)
2012–2013 Standard Liège 7 (0)
2013–2014 Tottenham Hotspur 7 (0)
2014–2017 Crystal Palace 9 (0)
2015 → Rotherham United (loan) 10 (0)
2015 → Ipswich Town (loan) 3 (0)
2017–2019 Barnsley 27 (1)
2019–2021 Swindon Town 32 (1)
2021–2022 Stockport County 5 (0)
2022 Welling United 1 (0)
2022 Macclesfield 3 (0)
2023– AFC Eskilstuna 15 (0)
International career
2007–2008 England U16 5 (0)
2008–2009 England U17 7 (0)
2010 England U19[3] 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 6 September 2023

He began his career at Manchester United where he made his first team debut appearance, he left United and was bought by Belgian club Standard Liège, where he spent a year before returning to England with Tottenham Hotspur. After another season, he was sold to Crystal Palace, where he made appearances again in the first team. He spent time on loan at Rotherham United and Ipswich Town before he was released. He signed for Barnsley in 2017, but was again released at the end of the 2018–19 season and joined Swindon Town. He left Swindon after his contract expired in 2021, ultimately signing for Stockport County until the end of the 2021–22 season, but he left after four months.

Fryers is a youth international, having played for the England under-16, under-17 and under-19 teams.

Career

Manchester United

Fryers began his football career at Fletcher Moss Rangers.[4] During the 2010–11 season, Fryers suffered a serious knee injury that kept him out for most of the season.[5] Fryers made his senior debut for Manchester United in the League Cup on 20 September 2011, starting alongside Michael Carrick in central defence in United's third round 3–0 victory over rivals Leeds United.[6] He then played in their 3–0 fourth round win against Aldershot Town on 25 October, appearing as a left-back.[7] On 2 November, he was a late substitute for Jonny Evans during a 2–0 win against Oțelul Galați in a Champions League group stage match at Old Trafford. He made his Premier League debut in a game against Wolverhampton Wanderers, coming on as a substitute for Patrice Evra in the 68th minute; the game finished 4–1.[8] On 26 December 2011, Fryers continued to press for more inclusions as a 46th-minute substitute for Jonny Evans in a league match against Wigan Athletic.

In February 2012, Sky Sports carried a story suggesting that Fryers could follow fellow academy product Ravel Morrison out of Old Trafford at the end of the 2011–12 season.[9] On 4 July 2012, Sir Alex Ferguson stated in an interview: "We haven't heard anything from Zeki Fryers, I don't know what's happening there but he's not been in touch with the club. His agent hasn't been in touch with the club and I can only assume he'll be back for training."[10]

Standard Liège

Fryers spent the summer training with Tottenham Hotspur ahead of a proposed transfer, but the two clubs were unable to agree on a compensation package (in England, when a player under the age of 23 leaves a club at the end of his contract, his new club must pay a fee to his old club as compensation for having trained him up). Belgian club Standard Liège also expressed interest in Fryers, and as they are not an English club, they did not have to pay Manchester United the same level of compensation.[11] Fryers signed a two-year contract with Liège on 23 August 2012.[12] Fryers played in seven matches for Standard, but with the sacking of Ron Jans in November, he was left out of the squad and ultimately reported to his agent that he was homesick.[13]

Tottenham Hotspur

With Fryers out of favour in Belgium, Tottenham renewed their interest in him in the January 2013 transfer window and reached an agreement with Standard Liège to sign him.[14] The transfer was criticised by the then Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson, who accused Tottenham of "blatant manipulation" of the rules,[13] having attempted to sign Fryers directly from United in the previous transfer window. Upon signing, Fryers was made part of Tottenham's development squad.[11] During the Asia Cup competition, in July 2013, Tottenham brought Fryers on as a substitute, where he played at left-back for the remainder of the game.

Crystal Palace

On 1 September 2014, Fryers signed a three-year deal with Crystal Palace for an undisclosed fee.[15] The defender was released from his contract on 30 June 2017.[16]

Loan moves

After making only one three-minute substitute appearance in the League for Crystal Palace, Fryers joined Rotherham United on a one-month loan on 16 January 2015.[17] On 26 March 2015, Fryers signed for Ipswich Town on loan until the end of the 2014–15 season, alongside Crystal Palace teammate Jonny Williams.[18]

Barnsley

On 1 July 2017, it was announced that Fryers had joined Championship club Barnsley on a three-year contract.[19]

He was released by Barnsley at the end of the 2018–19 season.[20]

Swindon Town

After his release from Barnsley, Fryers signed for Swindon Town on a two-year deal.[21] On 14 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Swindon at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract.[22]

Stockport County

After being a free agent for under four months, on 11 September, Stockport County announced that they signed Fryers on a one-year deal.[23] Fryers left Stockport after four months with the club, having made six appearances.[24]

Welling United

On 2 April 2022, Fryers signed for National League South side Welling United.[25]

Macclesfield

On 19 May 2022, Fryers signed for Northern Premier League Division One West side Macclesfield[26] but left by mutual consent in October 2022.

In February 2023, Fryers joined Superettan side AFC Eskilstuna on a deal until the end of the season.[27]

Career statistics
As of match played 2 April 2022[28]
Club Season League National Cup League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Manchester United 2011–12 Premier League 2000301[lower-alpha 1]060
Standard Liège 2012–13 Belgian Pro League 7000——70
Tottenham Hotspur 2012–13 Premier League 0000000000
2013–14 7000207[lower-alpha 2]0160
Crystal Palace 2014–15 Premier League 100010—20
2015–16 Premier League 000000—00
2016–17 Premier League 803010—120
Total 903020—140
Rotherham United (loan) 2014–15 Championship 1000000—100
Ipswich Town (loan) 2014–15 Championship 300000—30
Barnsley 2017–18 Championship 2210010—231
2018–19 League One 5021001[lower-alpha 3]081
Total 271211010312
Swindon Town 2019–20 League Two 221201000251
2020–21 League One 100001000110
Total 321202000361
Stockport County 2021–22 National League 5010000060
Welling United 2021–22 National League South 10——0010
Macclesfield 2022–23 Northern Premier League Division One West 0000000000
Career total 103281100901303
  1. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  2. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance(s) in EFL Trophy

Honours

Swindon Town

References
  1. "Club list of registered players: As at 19th May 2018: Barnsley" (PDF). English Football League. p. 4. Retrieved 16 June 2018.
  2. "Barclays Premier League Player Profile Ezekiel Fryers". Premier League. 2014. Archived from the original on 29 March 2016. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
  3. "Ezekiel Fryers Profile". TheFA.com. The Football Association. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  4. "Manchester United: Borthwick-Jackson is Fletcher Moss' latest Old Trafford graduate". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 25 March 2021.
  5. Marshall, Adam; Coppack, Nick (30 November 2011). "Fryers thrilled with progress". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 14 December 2011.
  6. "Leeds 0–3 Man Utd". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 20 September 2011. Retrieved 20 September 2011.
  7. Winter, Henry (25 October 2011). "Aldershot 0 Manchester United 3: match report". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 27 October 2011. Retrieved 25 October 2011.
  8. "Manchester United 4–1 Wolves". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 10 December 2011. Retrieved 10 December 2011.
  9. O'Rourke, Pete (2 February 2012). "United risk losing starlet". Sky Sports. BSkyB. Retrieved 22 August 2012.
  10. Marshall, Adam (4 July 2012). "Boss confirms Pogba exit". ManUtd.com. Manchester United. Retrieved 6 July 2012.
  11. "Ferguson blames Spurs over Fryers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  12. "Un défenseur de Manchester United signe au Standard !" [A Manchester United defender signs for Standard!]. standard.be (in French). Royal Standard de Liège. 23 August 2012. Archived from the original on 22 February 2015. Retrieved 23 August 2012.
  13. "Sir Alex Ferguson accuses Tottenham over Zeki Fryers deal". BBC Sport. British Broadcasting Corporation. 4 January 2013. Retrieved 4 January 2013.
  14. "Fryers joins from Standard Liege". tottenhamhotspur.com. Tottenham Hotspur FC. 3 January 2013. Retrieved 3 January 2013.
  15. "Zeki Fryers has joined Crystal Palace on a three year contract". ITV. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 1 September 2014.
  16. "Premier League clubs reveal released lists". Premier League. 9 June 2017. Retrieved 10 June 2017.
  17. "Fryers Joins Rotherham On Loan". cpfc.co.uk. Crystal Palace FC. 16 January 2015. Retrieved 16 January 2015.
  18. "Jonny Williams and Zeki Fryers join Ipswich Town". BBC Sport (British Broadcasting Corporation). 26 March 2015. Retrieved 26 March 2015.
  19. Warlow, Robert (1 July 2017). "Former Crystal Palace and Tottenham defender joins Championship side Barnsley". croydonadvertiser.co.uk. Archived from the original on 1 July 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
  20. "Adam Davies & Ryan Hedges: Barnsley offer Wales duo new deals". BBC Sport. 17 May 2019. Retrieved 20 May 2019.
  21. "Zeki Fryers joins Swindon Town". swindontownfc.co.uk. Swindon Town F.C. 17 June 2019. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
  22. "2021 RETAINED AND RELEASED LIST". swindontownfc.co.uk. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  23. "Experienced defender signs on". Stockport County FC. 11 September 2021. Retrieved 11 September 2021.
  24. "Defender leaves the Club". stockportcounty.com. Stockport County FC. 5 January 2022. Retrieved 5 January 2022.
  25. "Wings add three". Welling United FC. 2 April 2022. Retrieved 3 April 2022.
  26. Macclesfield FC [@thesilkmen] (19 May 2022). "Macclesfield FC are delighted to unveil former Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and England youth international defender Zeki Fryers as our first summer signing" (Tweet). Retrieved 27 May 2022 – via Twitter.
  27. "AFC Eskilstuna skriver kontrakt med Zeki Fryers". AFC Eskilstuna. 19 February 2023. Retrieved 21 February 2023.
  28. "Z. Fryers". Soccerway. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
  29. "League One & League Two clubs vote to end seasons early". BBC Sport. 9 June 2020. Retrieved 4 January 2021.
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