Will Donkin was educated at a school more famous for producing prime ministers than professional soccer players, but having played 15 times for Taiwan, the 18-year-old hopes his international experience will help him take the next step in his career.
Donkin, who went to Eton College, one of Britain’s most exclusive private schools, is looking for a new club after parting ways with English Premier League club Crystal Palace in June having not played a competitive senior game.
He returns to Europe this week to continue his search for new surroundings having featured for Taiwan in World Cup qualifiers against Jordan and Nepal.
The Oxford, England-born attacking midfielder, who says he has offers from clubs in England, China and around Europe, believes the two years he has spent playing international soccer will convince coaches to give him an opportunity in the senior game.
“I definitely think, from the clubs that I’ve spoken to, my international experience is something on my CV that’s very interesting to them,” he said. “For them, it’s something different to a lot of other 18 and 19-year-olds. There aren’t many my age who have that many senior international caps, so it’s definitely a good thing.”
“What I’m trying to get now is experience of playing men’s senior football. I’ve been involved in that environment at international level from 16 and that’s something coaches back home and in Europe all see as a good thing, that I can make the step up. It will be easier because I’ve had that experience already,” he added.
Donkin qualifies to play for Taiwan, who are 125th in the FIFA rankings, through his mother.
The midfielder made his international debut at 16 against Turkmenistan in November 2017, having come through the youth ranks at Chelsea before switching to Palace.
After a summer spent training with Cardiff City and Hibernian, he feels he is ready to move on from youth team soccer and start building a career at the senior level.
“I didn’t want to sign the pro contract at Palace because I wanted to look for a club that had a better pathway to first-team football,” he said.
“I’m 18, turning 19 [in December], and I’m ready for that next stage in my development and I felt that at Palace there wouldn’t have been as many options to play first-team football,” Donkin said.
An increasing number of England-born players have moved to leagues in Germany and the Netherlands due to the difficulty of breaking into the Premier League.
Donkin has sought the advice of his national team boss, Louis Lancaster, who previously worked with Jadon Sancho, Borussia Dortmund’s impressive boss since 2017.
While he would prefer to stay in Europe, moving to China is also an option, with clubs granted spots in the squads to sign players from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macau, in addition to players from overseas.
“I would have the opportunity to work with some very good European managers and with or against some top foreign players who play in that league, but at the moment I’m not sure. I need to see what’s best for the next step,” he said.
Freddie Freeman homered and drove in four runs, Shohei Ohtani also went deep and Roki Sasaki earned his first major league win as the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 10-3 on Saturday night for their seventh straight victory. The Dodgers have won the first two games of the series to improve to 5-0 against Atlanta this year. Los Angeles’ three-game sweep at home early in the season left the Braves 0-7. Sasaki allowed three runs and six hits over five innings. The 23-year-old right-hander gave up a home run to Ozzie Albies, but received plenty of offensive support in his
FOCUS: ‘We came out here with a goal in mind ... to keep our foot on their throat and on their neck, and continue to play 48 minutes of basketball,’ Donovan Mitchell said The Cleveland Cavaliers on Monday thrashed the Miami Heat to cruise into the next round of the NBA playoffs as the Golden State Warriors battled past the Houston Rockets 109-106 to move to the brink of a series victory. After pounding Miami 124-87 in game three on Saturday, No.1 Eastern Conference seeds Cleveland once again piled on the misery for their outclassed opponents with a crushing 138-83 victory to complete a 4-0 series win. The 55-point drubbing was the largest series-clinching victory in NBA playoff history and sets up a series against either the Indiana Pacers or Milwaukee Bucks in
Bayern Munich on Sunday were crowned German champions for the 34th time, giving striker Harry Kane his first major trophy, after second-placed Bayer 04 Leverkusen drew 2-2 at SC Freiburg. Bayern’s 3-3 draw at RB Leipzig on Saturday, when the Bavarians came from two goals down to take the lead before conceding a stoppage-time equalizer, meant defending Bundesliga champions Leverkusen needed to win at Freiburg to delay the title party. Leverkusen were two goals down before scoring twice in the final 10 minutes, but Xabi Alonso’s side could not find a third, as Bayern reclaimed the title at the first attempt after
Shuttler Lin Chun-yi yesterday kept Taiwan on the board as they faced their first major challenge of the group stage after marching into the last eight at the Sudirman Cup Finals in Xiamen, China. Taiwan were losing 3-1 to South Korea as of press time last night, with only the men’s doubles match remaining. Taiwan and four-time champions South Korea have already progressed to the quarter-finals, after Taiwan on Monday blanked the Czech Republic 5-0 without giving up a single game. Before last night’s tie, Taiwan were undefeated in Group B, with a 9-1 match record, ahead of South Korea, who, although also
RSS