Daniel Jebbison is growing up – and could be just what Canada needs

LOS ANGELES – Daniel Jebbison has secrets he’s ready to share.

Canada’s men’s national team opened its first meeting during training camp ahead of the Concacaf Nations League finals by celebrating personal milestones since the team last gathered in November. Alphonso Davies was given a round of applause for his recent engagement. All the while, Jebbison, 21, sat quietly. It was the former England youth international’s first meeting with Canada since joining the team as a highly coveted dual-national.

Quiet will be soon rare around Jebbison. The Bournemouth forward revealed to The Athletic that he’s expecting his first child later this year.

“It motivates me so much more. I think about it in training: how I have to do this for them,” Jebbison said of his soon-to-be-growing family.

That’s welcome news for Jesse Marsch and Canada. After years of Canada Soccer courting Jebbison to join the men’s national team, he made his Canada debut, coming on in the 80th minute of Thursday’s 2-0 semifinal loss to Mexico.

And so the other secret he’s ready to share? With a newfound motivation, Jebbison could finally make good on years of potential. Canada’s oft-used front two of Jonathan David and Cyle Larin have struggled to score consistently during Marsch’s tenure. Jebbison could impact Canada’s forward group in a much-needed way.

Back in 2006, Bassam Naim begrudgingly first allowed Daniel Jebbison on his training pitch.

Jebbison was 6 while his older brother, Micah, was an 8-year-old playing for ANB Futbol, an Oakville-based academy. Jebbison’s parents were already at the training ground four days a week, but there were no programs for children as young as Daniel.

His passion was evident. Jebbison would wake up early on Saturday mornings to watch the Premier League on television. And after Micah eventually scored a trial at Everton, Daniel became a fan. He claims he had Everton bedsheets too.

The passion led his parents to ask: Couldn’t Daniel just play up a few years?

Naim, ANB academy director, had no choice but to allow the “hyper” Daniel to train with his brother’s team. He wasn’t convinced the kid who would relentlessly buzz around the sidelines could translate that energy onto the pitch.

Naim was wrong. As early as 6, Jebbison was showing traits that would eventually make him a perfect fit for Marsch’s high-tempo style.

“He was a chaser,” Naim said, before stressing, “always going after the ball.”

“I loved getting at people when I played. I loved fighting. That’s the type of player I am: I love pressing and winning the ball back,” Jebbison said.

And so Jebbison started playing with older teams, beginning a trend that would continue throughout his career.

For that to happen, Naim had to lean on his own foundation he runs to raise money for families who cannot afford academy costs.

“My parents couldn’t afford the fees,” Jebbison said. “It’s as simple as that. I don’t know the specific details, but I wouldn’t have been able to go to tournaments, play, and get new gear, if it wasn’t for his help.”

In that sense, Jebbison’s origin story is similar to that of Davies. Canada’s best male player ever required the assistance of the Free Footy program, which relied on government subsidies, to cover the fees for playing time and equipment when Davies first moved to Canada as a refugee. Had the Free Footy program not existed, it’s entirely possible Davies never would have hit the heights he has. And without ANB Futbol, Jebbison’s career could have looked dramatically different.

“I’m so grateful and I’m sure he’s doing the same thing for other people, because not everybody has money,” Jebbison said.

At ANB, Jebbison thrived.

“He was a hunter,” Naim said.

Jebbison soaked up sessions heavy on tactical and technical information. And in return, he showed remarkable athletic qualities, natural mastery with the ball without ever losing his coordination during growth spurts.

By 14, Jebbison’s qualities suggested needed more difficult tests than he was finding in Canada. His mother was offered a job back in her native England. Daniel had to go with her, for the betterment of his career.

“We’re simply not a football nation yet. We would like to be. We have some passion for it. We don’t have the facilities. I would advise any player (to go to Europe),” Naim said.

Once Jebbison arrived in England, he was starting from square one. His peers would have been involved in various academy set-ups for years. He enrolled in UK Football Trials, a large open training session that clubs can visit and scout for new talent.

That’s when Sheffield United saw him. He joined their academy at 15, and by 17, he had plowed through the Under-18 and Under-23 teams with the same qualities he showed as a child: the fearlessness to be direct with the ball towards defenders.

Still just 17, Jebbison earned his first Premier League start in May 2021 under Paul Heckingbottom.

Heckingbottom had been moved from Sheffield’s Under-23 head coach to interim manager of the first team. What Jebbison showed him in training left him with no choice: he had to let the horse out of the barn. Jebbison became the youngest player to score in his Premier League debut, against Everton of all teams.

“It was his athleticism and his potential,” Heckingbottom said of what made Jebbison enticing. “If I was still working with him, I’d be excited about what he could get to.”

Unfortunately, that goal represented the high-water mark for Jebbison’s early career. For all his talent, he still lacked the consistency and professionalism that separates young talent from regular Premier League minutes. What Heckingbottom called moments of “Premier League athleticism” were followed by moments of immaturity and being untidy with the ball.

His career since took multiple disappointing turns. They left Jebbison looking like a player who might never fulfill his potential: multiple moves to lower-level leagues and only a smattering of goals to show for it. Not nearly enough consistent playing time at Sheffield. A blood clot that cost him nearly his entire 2023-24 season.

Early in his career in England, Jebbison lived with his family. But as he bounced around, often playing in multiple cities in one season, he spent long stretches alone.

“Because he’s athletically so strong, people forget how young he is,” Heckingbottom said. “He needs to be with people who know him, understand him but are also going to push him. Because he’s not the finished article.”

“Sometimes you just don’t play. Are you going to cry about it? Or do something about it? And are you going to do stuff when no one sees you?” Jebbison said.

Bournemouth took something of a chance on Jebbison by inking him to a four-year contract last summer. The signing proved to be a lifeline. With it, Jebbison realized what many around him already knew: it was time to grow up.

His engagement to his fiancée, Lieke, has given him clarity on his future and has helped ground him. Jebbison learned to “invest” in himself by hiring a physiotherapist and nutritionist to keep his body in its best condition. While many 21-year-olds getting Premier League substitution appearances – as he has through the second half of the season for Bournemouth – might be interested in flashier purchases to celebrate their new status, Jebbison waves that notion away. He wants to buy an ice bath for his apartment to improve his recovery.

“That’s the type of discipline you need to stay in the Premier League,” he said.

And of course, the impending birth of his first child has given him newfound clarity.

“It’s going to make me a better person and player, for sure,” Jebbison said.

His Bournemouth minutes might be limited right now, but they’re regular. The stability he’s found led him to finally decide to play for Canada. Jebbison was playing constant soccer against men, and decided he was done with youth international fixtures.

Jebbison is high on Canada’s potential. And for Marsch, the feeling is mutual. That Marsch turned to Jebbison on the bench late in a pressure-filled semifinal against Mexico for the forward’s first international minutes suggests the coach believes in the player.

Marsch might need to turn to Jebbison more and more. His decision to not just start Larin and David up top against Mexico, but announce publicly that he would do so, looks questionable in hindsight. Neither looked dangerous close to goal. Both have been trusted soldiers under Marsch, but the additions of Jebbison and Promise David were meant to give Canada different looks up top.

One question coming out of the loss was have Larin and Jonathan David become too comfortable in their positions? These are players who have scored critical goals for Canada in the past – they’re at the top of the nation’s goal scoring chart, after all. But on a night when Canada lacked creativity and punchiness in the final third, throwing a wild card onto the pitch earlier might have made a difference.

That’s where Jebbison comes in.

That Marsch fought to bring him into the squad suggests he believes in his potential. That support from coaches is perhaps what Jebbison has lacked throughout his early career. Marsch’s own history of developing young players in the Red Bull system could work wonders with him.

Marsch has shown he’s not afraid to make drastic changes to the Canadian roster already. He’s opted for the likes of Ali Ahmed and Jacob Shaffelburg in wide areas, relatively untested players at the international level, instead of Tajon Buchanan, Canada’s best player at the 2022 World Cup.

Jebbison’s pace and athleticism make him a tailor-made Marsch player. If he can continue to log minutes at Bournemouth, Jebbison might just push for a 2026 World Cup starting position, too. In the meantime, he could log plenty of time against the U.S. in Sunday’s third-place match, a game that has purpose in the grand scheme but could also be ripe for squad rotation and experimentation.

Yet on Thursday night, that’s not where his mind was.

As Jebbison stepped on the field, his mind quickly raced to the people like Naim who supported him, and then thought of his future. His child would one day watch videos of his debut for Canada. He wanted to make them proud.

“I have something,” Jebbison said, “to fight for, play for.”

(Top photo: Dan Istitene/Getty Images)