Everton signed former Leicester City veteran Swiss goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović on a short-term deal..

2022-09-14 21:04

Everton signed former Leicester City veteran Swiss goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović on a short-term deal..




Everton announced on its official website on Tuesday that Leicester City's former Switzerland international veteran goalkeeper Eldin Jakupović has joined the club on a free agent.


According to Everton's official statement, Jakupović signed a short-term contract with the club that will expire after December 31 this year, and he will also wear the No. 35 shirt.


The 37-year-old Jakupović  was born on October 2, 1984 in Kozarac, Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is 1.9 meters tall and plays a goalkeeper. He has dual citizenships of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Switzerland. In order to escape from the civil war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Jakupović immigrated to Switzerland with his family when he was a child, and then joined the youth academy of Swiss club Grasshoppers. Jakupović made his first-team debut in 2004, and then moved to Thun and the Russian Super League giants Lokomotiv Moscow in the following years.


In August 2007, Jakupović returned to Grasshoppers on loan, and immediately after his return to the club, he became the club's main starting goalkeeper. With his excellent performance during this period, Jakupović was originally intended to become the main goalkeeper for Lokomotiv Moscow after returning to the team from loan, However, due to the restriction of the registration quota of foreign players in the Russian Super League, Jakupović can only frustratingly terminate his contract with the club and leave the team.


After leaving the team, Jakupović once went to Tottenham Hotspur for a trial, but due to various reasons, Spurs could not reach an agreement with him. After that, Jakupović chose to challenge the Greek Super League by joining Olympiakos Volou. Although he performed well in Olympiakos Volou, the club failed to escape the fate of relegation, so after the club was relegated, Jakupović moved to the Greek giants Aris.


In July 2012, Jakupović switched to EFL Championship side Hull City, but he mainly played as a substitute goalkeeper at first, while also played for Leyton Orient on loan during the period until he helped the club win the Championship playoffs in the 2015/16 season and securing the Tigers promotion to the Premier League. Since then, Jakupović became the club's main starting goalkeeper.


Following Hull City's relegation back to the Championship in 2017, Jakupović moved to Leicester City that summer, but was always made to warm the bench behind the much preferred Kasper Schmeichel and Danny Ward. After joining, Jakupović only made 4 appearances in all competitions for the club in the 2017/18 season, and the rest of the time he was warming the bench.


At the international level, Jakupović played for the Bosnian U21s national team in 2005, but he chose to represent Switzerland the following year. Jakupović waited until August 2008 before he could make his senior Swiss debut, but since then he was never called-up again.


It is worth mentioning that since the team's two main English goalkeepers, Jordan Pickford and Andy Lonergan, were both seriously injured and absent, Everton, who was in trouble with a goalkeeper shortage, could only urgently seek Jakupović for help in short term.