Ebbsfleet United today announced the signing of 27-year-old winger Jordon Ibe on a permanent deal. The move marks Ibe’s return to professional football after a year out of football following his depature from Adanaspor in 2022.
Ibe came through the youth ranks at Wycombe Wanderers and he made his first-team debut for the Chairboys aged just 15 at the start of the 2011/12 season. Ibe went on to make six more appearances for Wycombe before joining Liverpool for an undisclosed fee in December 2012. After over a year in the Reds’ development teams, the winger made his debut in the final game of the 2012/13 season in a 1-0 win over Queens Park Rangers.
Ibe then went out on loan to Birmingham City in the second half of the 2013/14 season and Derby County at the start of the following campaign. His pace and power caused lots of problems for Championship defences and, after six goals in 31 games, he was recalled by Liverpool in January 2015.
The young winger played 27 times for the Reds in the 2015/16 Premier League season and scored his first and only goal for the Reds. He then moved to AFC Bournemouth for what was at the time a club-record fee of £15 million.
But, the former England Under-21 international failed to make his mark for Eddie Howe’s side. In his first season with the Cherries, he made just 13 league starts and failed to score. The 2017/18 season was undoubtedly Ibe’s best season for Bournemouth as he made 32 league appearances and recorded eight goal contributions.
After playing just 47 minutes in the 2019/20 league season, Ibe was released by Bournemouth and he moved to Derby County in the summer. He was earmarked as one of the talented players who could help the Rams pull off a great escape after being handed a massive 21-point deduction.
Ibe’s time at Derby came to an end in unfortunate circumstances as his contract was mutually terminated at the end of the 2020/21 season after the winger admitted that he was suffering from depression in January 2021. He then signed for second division Turkish side Adanaspor in January 2022 but departed shortly after without registering a single minute on the pitch.
Writer’s View
When big-name players move into the National League they can be very hit or miss. Sometimes they think they are too good for the league and that they are doing their club a favour by playing for them, in which case they often underperform. In other cases, the player is still hungry to play and their underlying ability often shines through.
Ibe is in a slightly more unique situation than other high-reputation players before him, but he should end up in the second category. The past three seasons have been massively difficult for him on a personal level, and it has meant that he has played virtually no football.
However, the tricky winger did the right thing in putting his health and mental well-being first and that should lead to him being in a good place upon his return to the professional game. He can now just focus on playing football and, at this level, his talent will shine bright which should help him to progress up through the Football League.
Ebbsfleet’s counter-attacking style will mean that Ibe will have to get fit and do a lot of defensive work, but it should also mean he can get into a lot of one-on-one situations which is what he relishes.
With a striker as experienced and confident as Dominic Poleon in the attack alongside him, Ebbsfleet will possess some serious firepower which should see Dennis Kutrieb’s side consolidate a mid-table finish at the very least.
