Malcolm Ebiowei has opened up on his move to Crystal Palace after the teenager was officially announced as the club's first summer signing this week.
The 18-year-old winger joined the Eagles on July 1 following the expiry of his deal with Derby County, signing a five-year deal at Selhurst Park. He will follow in the footsteps of current first-team stars such as Eberechi Eze and Michael Olise in moving from the Championship to the Premier League via Crystal Palace.
Ebiowei only made his breakthrough in professional football this year, making his debut for Derby under Wayne Rooney in February before starting the Rams' final 11 games of the season and scoring his only goal for the first team in the penultimate game of the season against Blackpool.
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Palace moved quickly to ensure they brought Ebiowei back to south London this summer, with the winger having grown up in Peckham and Bermondsey. He also played in both Chelsea and Arsenal's academies as a youngster, where he met several Palace players, including Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Jadan Raymond.
Now, after completing his move to SE25 and being handed the number 23 shirt vacated by Conor Gallagher last season, Ebiowei has been speaking of his delight to have secured his move to Palace and to work under the management of Patrick Vieira.
"I'm delighted, I'm over the moon," he told Palace TV. "I'm south London born and bred, so it's a plus for me. I have seen a lot of players step up from the Championship to the Premier League and get their chance playing, and I was thinking that I would like to take that chance as well. I'm very excited – a bit nervous, but that's a part of it really. Excited."
Ebiowei quickly caught the attention of Derby fans and Rooney - who announced his departure from the club this week - following his arrival at Pride Park last September from Rangers. Initially playing with the Under-18s and Under-23s, he was promoted to the first team around Christmas before getting his first chances to impress in the New Year.
Soon after making his debut off the bench, he was gradually given more and more time on the pitch, with Rooney telling reporters in March he'd not seen a young player play so consistently for 90 minutes for a long time following his role in Derby's 1-1 draw with Coventry.
"You can't really put it into words," Ebiowei said of his former manager Rooney handing him his debut. "He is just the gaffer – I can't call him by his first name. It's just amazing. I didn't really get used to it, I'm still when talking to him, a bit nervous. It will probably be the same for the gaffer here as well! I'm very fortunate to experience this. I have [spoken to Patrick Vieira]. I had a Zoom call with him. It was a good conversation."
And after switching one Premier League Hall of Fame member as a manager for another one, Ebiowei is now looking forward to which current top-flight players he'll be cutting his teeth against as well as alongside.
"[My hero] has always been Ronaldo," he says. "Obviously, there is Neymar and Messi, Ronaldinho, but it's always been Ronaldo – he's the one that stands for me. I like to take players on. I'm creative and fearless. I like to win – I really like to win. If you see me getting emotional, it means I like to win – I'm not sulking! I'd like to learn from Wilfried Zaha, for example, because he's been doing it at the highest level for a very long time now. I'd like to learn off him."
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