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Born to a Nigerian father and a Dutch mother (Eleanore Troost) on September 1, 1993, Ekong started his professional career with the youth team of the English side, Fulham, before moving to the academy of Tottenham Hotspur. After departing England, the Udinese central back continued the developmental phase of his career in 2013 with Dutch club, Groningen, spending most of his time with the club on loan at Dordrecht. He would move to Belgian side, Gent, in 2015, a club he also spent most times on loan away with Haugesund. Another transfer will see him join Turkish Super Lig side, Bursaspor in 2017. A string of decent performances in Turkey would earn him a deal with his current club, Udinese in 2018.
🇳🇬 Nigerian centre back William Troost-Ekong celebrates his 27th birthday today! 🎂@WTroostEkong | @NGSuperEagles pic.twitter.com/t9f2Kbgykt
— CAF (@CAF_Online) September 1, 2020
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Ekong who represented the Netherlands at the U-19 and U-20 levels switched allegiance to Nigeria by making his debut for the Super Eagles in an African Cup of Nations qualifiers match against Chad in 2015. So far, he has featured 42 times for the three-time African champions and was part of the 2019 AFCON bronze-winning Eagles team and the Rio 2016 Olympics bronze-winning U-23 national team.
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