Drenthe in action with Feyenoord |
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Royston Rickie Drenthe | ||
| Date of birth | 8 April 1987 | ||
| Place of birth | Rotterdam, Netherlands | ||
| Height | 1.67 m (5 ft 5 1⁄2 in) | ||
| Playing position | Midfielder / Defender | ||
| Club information | |||
| Current club | Everton (on loan from Real Madrid) | ||
| Number | 10 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 1992–2000 | Neptunus | ||
| 2000–2003 | Feyenoord | ||
| 2003–2005 | Excelsior | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps† | (Gls)† |
| 2005–2007 | Feyenoord | 29 | (0) |
| 2007– | Real Madrid | 46 | (2) |
| 2010–2011 | → Hércules (loan) | 17 | (4) |
| 2011– | → Everton (loan) | 11 | (2) |
| National team‡ | |||
| 2006–2007 | Netherlands U21 | 24 | (7) |
| 2008 | Netherlands B | 1 | (0) |
| 2010– | Netherlands | 1 | (0) |
| * Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 21:39, 26 December 2011 (UTC). † Appearances (Goals). |
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Royston Rickie Drenthe (born 8 April 1987) is a Dutch footballer who plays for Everton on loan from Real Madrid.
Mainly a midfielder, and regarded as one of football's fastest players,[1] he can also operate as a defender or forward, but always on the left side of the pitch.
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Born in Rotterdam, Drenthe joined local side Feyenoord's youth system at the age of 13, playing mainly as a winger during his junior years. After disciplinary issues during a trip to Switzerland with the B side, coach Marcel Bout wanted him to leave the club, but everything was resolved after the intervention of Rob Baan, the director of football.
Bout hardly used Drenthe in his subsequent line-ups, and, at the end of the season, the 16-year old was named as one of eleven players whose future at the club was questionable. He eventually moved to Feyenoord feeder club SBV Excelsior.
Drenthe improved during the two years he played at Excelsior, with coach Marco van Lochem successfully playing him as left back. After impressing his former side's coaching staff, he was asked to rejoin the club, and accepted.
In the 2005–06 season, Drenthe reached Feyenoord's first team, managed by his former youth coach Henk Fräser, and had to compete for first-choice status with Mohammed Hammouti. After scoring three goals against AFC Ajax in the Otten Cup, a youth tournament organized by PSV Eindhoven, as a winger, he began training with the main squad, while still appearing for the reserves.
In the same week where he helped to a 5–1 win at Ajax with the second team, Drenthe was offered a professional contract at Feyenoord. Manager Erwin Koeman handed him his Eredivisie debut, against Vitesse at the Gelredome and the player finished the season with three matches.
In 2006–07, Feyenoord signed veteran Belgian Philippe Léonard, while Pascal Bosschaart was also still part of the squad. After the former suffered an injury and the latter was transferred to ADO Den Haag, Drenthe became first-choice as Feyenoord finished seventh in the league.
After winning at the European Under-21 Championship with the Netherlands, and following transfer speculation in the press,[2] Feyenoord agreed to a €14 million bid by Real Madrid, after Drenthe decided to take his club to court if they did not want to let him go.[3][4][5]
Drenthe was presented as a Real Madrid player on 13 August 2007, alongside compatriot Wesley Sneijder. He made his official debut as a midfielder, in the second leg of the season's Spanish Supercup against Sevilla FC, and scored the 1–1 equaliser from 40 yards out, with the ball hitting the crossbar and crossing the line; the Merengues, however, lost 3–5 at home and 3–6 on aggregate.
Drenthe played regularly for Real Madrid in his debut season, in both left-wing positions, but began appearing less after the development of Brazilian Marcelo, being inclusively dropped from the list of 18 by manager Bernd Schuster in several games: after being left out for the match against Valencia CF, he stormed out of the training ground. He finished the campaign with 18 league appearances (plus four in the season's UEFA Champions League), scoring his first league goal against Real Valladolid, in a 7–0 home routing on 10 February 2008.
Despite rumours of him leaving the club on loan, Drenthe featured in 15 of Real Madrid's first 18 games of the 2008–09 season. However, he also suffered from anxiety issues after being booed by the club's supporters during a 1–0 home win against Deportivo de La Coruña and did not feature for the club for a period, although manager Juande Ramos offered the player his support and insisted he would help him.[6] The manager later revealed that the player asked not to be picked for the three games after the Deportivo fixture.[7]
On 31 August 2010, after having appeared rarely in his third season, Drenthe was loaned to Hércules CF in a season-long move.[8] He made his debut on 11 September, in a 2–0 away win against FC Barcelona.[9] He scored his first goal for the club on 14 November, netting from a free kick against Real Sociedad, in a 2–1 home victory.[10] His performances with the Alicante team were subsequently praised by the Spanish press.[11] However, the player would soon fall out of favour with the club's board of directors and coaching staff after arriving one week after the winter break ended, citing a "loss of confidence in Hércules management", rather than what was previously perceived as "a protest over unpaid wages".[12]
On 3 April 2011, in his second game after his suspension, Drenthe scored twice to help Hércules to its first away win since September, 3–1 against Real Sociedad.[13] He ended the season with 15 starts in 1,299 minutes of action, with his team being finally relegated.
On 31 August 2011, Drenthe joined Everton on a season-long loan deal.[14] He made his Premier League debut as a second-half substitute in the 2–2 home draw against Aston Villa, on 10 September. Again from the bench, against Wigan Athletic, he scored in the 97th minute to round off a 3–1 home victory.[15][16]
Drenthe made his first start for Everton on 21 September 2011, in a Football League Cup game against West Bromwich Albion, assisting the winning goal for Phil Neville in the 13th minute of extra time (2–1 home win).[17]
On his full league debut, against Fulham on 23 October, he scored his second Premier League goal for Everton inside three minutes of the game starting. It was from 25 yards out, a first time strike, and has been praised by football pundits. Drenthe was sent off for two yellow cards in a match against Chelsea on 26 October 2011. Drenthe made a return to action for Everton in a home game against the recently promoted Norwich City F.C. He had earlier missed 3 weeks after he picked up an ankle injury against Wolverhampton Wanderers. He came off the bench and produced an inspired performance to help Everton get a draw, assisting in the goal for Leon Osman. Drenthe assisted a goal for Osman once more in his next match, a 1-0 win against Swansea City.[18] Since his arrival at Everton, fans have hailed him as one of the Premier League's most exciting players.
After his first full season at Feyenoord, Drenthe was called by Dutch under-21 coach Foppe de Haan to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Championship, which was held in the Netherlands.
He was one of the most important players in the second consecutive title of the competition for the Jong Oranje, being chosen by UEFA as player of the tournament.[19] The following year, he represented the nation at the 2008 Summer Olympics.[20]
On 14 November 2010, Drenthe was selected for the first time for the Dutch senior team, as coach Bert van Marwijk picked him as a late replacement for injured Urby Emanuelson. Three days later, he made his debut, coming on as a second half substitute in the 1–0 friendly win with Turkey.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | Apps | Goals | Assists | ||
| Feyenoord | 2005–06 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 0 | ||
| 2006–07 | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 28 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Totals | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | 0 | |||
| Real Madrid | 2007–08 | 18 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 25 | 3 | 2 |
| 2008–09 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 0 | 1 | |
| 2009–10 | 8 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | — | 11 | 1 | 1 | |||
| Totals | 46 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 61 | 4 | 4 | |
| Hércules | 2010–11 | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 4 | 1 | |||||
| Totals | 17 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | — | 19 | 4 | 1 | ||||||
| Everton | 2011–12 | 11 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | 13 | 2 | 6 | |||||
| Totals | 11 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 1 | — | 13 | 2 | 6 | ||||||
| Career totals | 103 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 124 | 10 | 11 | |
Drenthe's younger brother, Giovanni, is also a footballer. The striker opted to represent Suriname internationally.[21]
He dated Spanish Playboy model Malena Gracia.[22]
Drenthe recorded a rap song with his friend U-Niq, called "Tak Takie".[23]
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