Erpan Ezimjan

Erpan Ezimjan (; ; born 14 January 1999), also known as Ërpan Hëzimjan, Ye Erfan and Erfan Hezim is a Chinese footballer who plays as a forward for amateur club Xinjiang Jindun.

Club career Born in Emin County in the Tacheng Prefecture of Xinjiang, China, Ezimjan took an interest in football at a young age. He began playing at the age of five, and continued playing in primary and middle school, before enrolling at the Xinjiang Vocational Sports Technical College. He joined Jiangsu Suning in 2017, and at the end of the year he was linked with a move to Italian club Inter Milan, as part of a deal the two clubs were arranging for Brazilian Alex Teixeira to make the same move from Jiangsu to Milan.

After the deal with Inter Milan fell through, Ezimjan continued to progress through the academy, and in 2019 he was loaned to China League One club Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic. After twenty-five appearances for Shaanxi Chang'an Athletic, Ezimjan returned to Jiangsu's academy, and in 2020 he was announced as a new loan signing for Taizhou Yuanda – though this move eventually fell through.

In 2021 he went on trial with Qingdao, but was reportedly close to signing with Chongqing Liangjiang Athletic instead. However, in April 2021 it was announced that he had joined Qingdao. After Qingdao were disbanded at the end of the 2021 season, he joined China League One club Jiangxi Lushan.

International career Ezimjan represented China at under-16, under-17 and under-19 level. In 2017, during the Panda Cup, he scored a bicycle kick goal against Hungary in China's 4–1 loss. The goal was compared to one scored by Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović.

Personal life Having been promoted to the Jiangsu Suning first team in 2018, and playing in a friendly match against Ukrainian opposition Shakhtar Donetsk in Dubai, Ezimjan was a notable absentee in Jiangsu's opening Chinese Super League fixtures. According to United States propaganda outlet Radio Free Asia, Ezimjan was taken to a "political re-education camp" in February 2018, and player representation organisation FIFPRO issued a statement calling for his release. Chinese propaganda outlet China Daily ran an article on the Xinjiang situation, accusing the west of "smearing" its image, and denied that Ezimjan had been detained.

Career statistics

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