XAVIER AMAECHI

Full Name: Xavier Casmier Amaechi

Born: 05 January 2001

Came from: Unattached   Went to:

First game: 02 August 2025   Last game: 23 August 2025

Appearances: 6 (5/1)   Goals: 1

Bath-born winger, Amaechi, is of Nigerian descent and started out as a schoolboy with Arsenal. He played for their under-18s in his breakthrough year of 2017-18 scoring 10 goals in 18 games, having signed his first professional contract watched on by Arsene Wenger, for a memorable photo, when he turned 17 in January 2018. He also played for the Gunners' under-23s playing 22 times and scoring four goals.

He then moved to German club Hamburger SV in July 2019 on a four-year contract - initially playing for the reserves, Hamburger SV II in the Regionalliga Nord. He played six games and scored five goals across two seasons. For those first two seasons he also played for the first-team in Bundesliga 2 making five appearances at that level. Over the next two seasons, 2021-22 & 2022-23 he played a further eight times scoring once, taking his tally to 13 appearances and one goal at first-team level.

In January 2021, he was loaned to Bundesliga 2 club Karlsruher SC until the end of that season, for whom he made seven appearances without scoring.

In June 2021 he signed a six-month loan deal with Bolton Wanderers. but with the club unable to afford his wages, and Hamburger SV refusing to pay them during the loan spell, Amaechi agreed to a pay cut during the loan as he specifically wanted to join Bolton over other options in England.

However, in July 2021 he fractured his metatarsal in a pre-season game against Preston North End, with the injury requiring surgery which would side-line him for a number of weeks. He finally debuted for the Trotters in November as a late substitute in a 2-0 win against Crewe Alexandra. In December, the loan was extended until the end of the season. With finances still a challenge for the Lancashire side, he returned to his parent club when the season ended having made 12 appearances and scoring one goal for Wanderers.

His international success mirrored his career at Arsenal and his early career in Germany. An England youth international, he had played 10 times England under-15s. In 2016-2017 he played six times, scoring twice for the under-16s.

In May 2018, he was included in the England under-17 squad as they hosted the 2018 UEFA European under-17 Championship. He scored in the quarter-final against Norway but a yellow card in this match led to his suspension for the semi-final defeat against the Netherlands. He was subsequently included in the UEFA Team of the Tournament. He played seven times, scoring twice for the under-17s.

By November 2019, he had made his England under-19 debut during a 4-0 win over Luxembourg in a UEFA 2020 European under-19 Championship qualifying match. In total he played three times, scoring once for the under-19s.

On 13 October 2020, Amaechi made his under-20 debut and scored during a 2-0 victory over Wales at St. George's Park. That was his sole appearance (one game, one goal) and the last of his age-range caps for the national side.

In June 2023, having returned to his parent club from Bolton, Amaechi signed for Bundesliga 2 side 1.FC Magdeburg on a free transfer making 44 appearances, scoring 7 times and also playing twice for the second team Magdeburg II.

However, he then decided to return to England. With the mass exodus at Home Park that followed relegation from the Championship at the end of the 2024-25 season, he arrived at Home Park in June 2025 under new Head of Football Operations David Fox and new manager Tom Cleverley. He became the club's fifth summer arrival, signing a three-year deal and becoming the first signing of Cleverley's tenure.