Daniel Namaso Loader (born 28 August 2000) is an English professional footballer who plays as a forward for Portuguese side Porto.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Daniel Namaso Edi-Mesumbe Loader[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (2000-08-28) 28 August 2000 (age 22)[2] | ||
| Place of birth | Reading, England | ||
| Height | 1.82 m (6 ft 0 in) | ||
| Position(s) | Forward | ||
| Club information | |||
Current team | Porto | ||
| Number | 19 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2006–2012 | Wycombe Wanderers | ||
| 2012–2017 | Reading | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2017–2020 | Reading | 28 | (1) |
| 2020–2022 | Porto B | 63 | (22) |
| 2021– | Porto | 6 | (1) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2015–2016 | England U16 | 11 | (2) |
| 2016–2017 | England U17 | 14 | (6) |
| 2017–2018 | England U18 | 7 | (0) |
| 2018–2019 | England U19 | 10 | (4) |
| 2019 | England U20 | 9 | (1) |
|
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:38, 17 October 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21:53, 20 November 2019 (UTC) | |||
Loader was born in Reading, Berkshire, and started his career in the youth team of Wycombe Wanderers before joining the under-13 side at his hometown club Reading in 2012.[3] He studied at Leighton Park School and then The Forest School. In 2016 he won the Maurice Edelston Memorial Trophy for the best academy schoolboy at the club.[4] In the summer of 2016 he started a two-year scholarship, but was quickly promoted to the under-23 side after a number of games and went on to represent the side in the EFL Trophy campaign.[3] He made his professional debut for the first team at the age of sixteen in August 2017, coming on as a substitute for Leandro Bacuna in extra time in the 3–1 victory over Millwall in the EFL Cup.[5] In the process he became only the third Reading player to make his debut under the age of seventeen.[3] At the end of the month he signed his first professional contract when he turned seventeen.[6] Prolific for the youth team, he was given a chance in the first team under José Gomes and became the youngest Reading player to reach 20 appearances.[7] On 27 April, he scored his first senior goal against Middlesbrough.[8] Loader was close to a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers before Wolves pulled out of the move due to Reading upping the price at the last moment.[9] A few days later he scored the winning penalty in round 2 of the EFL Cup against Wycombe Wanderers.[10]
On 20 August 2020, FC Porto announced the signing of Loader for Porto B, on a two-year contract.[11] He made 32 appearances for the reserve team in his first season, finishing with 8 goals, the highest tally on the team. Loader began the following season with Porto B and went on to score 15 goals. He was named in the senior squad for the first time for a league match against Boavista on 30 October.[12] He came off the bench late in the match to replace centre-forward Evanilson, and he scored in added time, sealing a 4–1 win.[13]
Loader started the 2022–23 season by winning the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira after being handed a surprising first start for Porto in a game that they ran out 3-0 winners over Tondela.[14]
Loader is eligible to represent England and Cameroon. He has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 level and under-20.[4] He was a member of the England U-17 team that finished runners-up to Spain in the 2017 UEFA European Under-17 Championship held in May in Croatia, making a total of five appearances in the tournament.[3]
In September 2017, Loader was called up to England U17 team for the 2017 FIFA U17 World Cup.[15] Loader scored twice in a group stage game against Iraq[16] and came off the bench in the quarter-final against the United States.[17] He did not feature in the final as England defeated Spain to lift the trophy.[18]
In September 2018, Loader scored twice for the England U19 team against the Netherlands.[19]
On 28 May 2019, Loader was called up to the England U20 for the 2019 Toulon Tournament.[20] He scored his first goal for the U20 age group on his ninth appearance; a 3–0 win over Iceland U21s at Wycombe on 19 November 2019.[21]
His brother, Ben Loader, is a professional rugby player with London Irish.[22]
| Club | Season | League | National cup | League cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Reading U23 | 2016–17[24] | — | — | — | — | 2[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | 2 | 0 | |||||
| Reading | 2017–18[5] | Championship | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19[25] | Championship | 21 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 22 | 1 | |||
| 2019–20[26] | Championship | 7 | 0 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 12 | 1 | |||
| Total | 28 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 35 | 2 | ||||
| Porto B | 2020–21 | LigaPro | 32 | 8 | — | — | — | — | 32 | 8 | ||||
| 2021–22 | 31 | 14 | — | — | — | — | 31 | 14 | ||||||
| 2022–23 | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | ||||||
| Total | 63 | 22 | — | — | — | — | 63 | 22 | ||||||
| Porto | 2021–22 | Primeira Liga | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 2 | 1 | |
| 2022–23 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 2] | 0 | 7 | 1 | ||
| Total | 6 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | ||
| Career total | 97 | 24 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 109 | 26 | ||
Porto
England U17
FC Porto – current squad | |
|---|---|