Danny Namaso

Reading Namaso was born in Reading, Berkshire, and started his career in the youth team of Wycombe Wanderers before joining the under-13 side at his hometown club Reading in 2012. He studied at Leighton Park School and then The Forest School. In 2016 he won the Maurice Edelston Memorial Trophy for the best academy schoolboy at the club. In the summer of 2016 he started a two-year scholarship, but was quickly promoted to the under-23 side after a number of games and went on to represent the side in the EFL Trophy campaign. Prolific for the youth team, he was given a chance in the first team under José Gomes and became the youngest Reading player to reach 20 appearances. On 27 April, he scored his first senior goal against Middlesbrough. Namaso was close to a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers before Wolves pulled out of the move due to Reading upping the price at the last moment. A few days later he scored the winning penalty in round 2 of the EFL Cup against Wycombe Wanderers. Porto On 20 August 2020, FC Porto announced the signing of Namaso for Porto B, on a two-year contract. He made 32 appearances for the reserve team in his first season, finishing with 8 goals, the highest tally on the team. Namaso began the following season with Porto B and went on to score 15 goals. He was named in the senior squad for the first time for a league match against Boavista on 30 October. He came off the bench late in the match to replace centre-forward Evanilson, and he scored in added time, sealing a 4–1 win. Namaso started the 2022–23 season by winning the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira after being handed a surprising first start for Porto in a game that they ran out 3–0 winners over Tondela. On 23 January 2024, Namaso extended his contract with Porto until June 2028. Auxerre loan On 17 August 2025, Ligue 1 club AJ Auxerre announced the season-long loan signing of Namaso, with an option to make the move permanent. The move saw Namaso link back up with fellow Reading Academy graduate Gabriel Osho. ==International career==

England Namaso was born in England to an English father and Cameroonian mother. He has represented England at under-16, under-17, under-18, under-19 level and under-20. Loader scored twice in a group stage game against Iraq and came off the bench in the quarter-final against the United States. He did not feature in the final as England defeated Spain to lift the trophy. In September 2018, Namaso scored twice for the England U19 team against the Netherlands. On 28 May 2019, Namaso was called up to the England U20 for the 2019 Toulon Tournament. He scored his first goal for the U20 age group on his ninth appearance; a 3–0 win over Iceland U21s at Wycombe on 19 November 2019. Cameroon In January 2025, he received clearance from FIFA that his change of international allegiance from England to Cameroon had gone through, leaving him eligible to represent the Cameroon national team. On 5 March 2025, Namaso was called up to the Cameroon national team for the first time, for their World Cup qualifiers against Eswatini and Libya. He made his debut on 19 March 2025 in a 0–0 draw against Eswatini, as a half-time substitute for Frank Magri. ==Personal life==

His brother, Ben Loader, is a professional rugby player with Gloucester Rugby. Ahead of the 2022–23 season, he stated to the Portuguese press that his preference was to be professionally addressed as Danny Namaso rather than Danny Loader. ==Career statistics==

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Porto • UEFA European Under-17 Championship runner-up: 2017 ==References==