Kevin Strootman

Sparta Rotterdam

Born in Ridderkerk, Strootman began his career with Sparta Rotterdam, making his professional debut during the 2007–08 season. He signed a contract extension with the club in November 2008. After they were relegated at the end of the 2009–10 Eredivisie season, he played with Sparta in the Eerste Divisie.

Utrecht

In the January transfer window of 2011, Strootman was signed by Utrecht. He played with Utrecht in the second half of the 2010–11 season, before moving to PSV Eindhoven in June 2011.

PSV Eindhoven

Strootman was joined at PSV Eindhoven with fellow Utrecht recruit Dries Mertens. Strootman made his PSV debut in a 3–1 home win against AZ. He made 88 total appearances for the Eindhoven club.

Roma

On 16 July 2013, PSV and Roma finalized a deal for Strootman's transfer to the Italian side, in a deal worth €17 million, with the fee potentially rising to €19 million through add-ons. He was given the number 6 shirt. In a pre-season friendly against the Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Stars, Strootman scored one goal and assisted another as Roma prevailed 3–1 at Sporting Park, Kansas City, Kansas. He scored his first competitive goal for Roma in 3–1 Serie A victory over Parma. He went on to score in matches against Torino, Atalanta, Milan and Livorno. On 9 March 2014, Strootman sustained a knee injury in Roma's 1–0 defeat to Napoli which made him miss the remainder of the 2013–14 season and the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where the…

Strootman made his senior international debut for the Netherlands against Austria in 2011 and scored his first international goal against Finland in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier. He was a member of the Netherlands' squad at Euro 2012 but did not appear in any matches as the Dutch were knocked out at the group stage. He appeared for the Netherlands U21 team at the 2013 UEFA Euro U21 Championship where the team reached the semi-finals, losing to Italy. Strootman was a regular in Louis van Gaal's side during the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, but missed the tournament finals due to injury. On 27 May 2016, Strootman made his first international appearance in two years after missing both the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the entirety of the team's unsuccessful UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying campaign. He was selected to start in a friendly match against the Republic of Ireland, playing 70 minutes before being substituted for Marco van Ginkel.

Strootman was said to be a dynamic and tough-tackling midfielder, who also possessed good vision, technique, and balance on the ball. A tall, physically strong and tactically intelligent left-footed player, he was described as a "modern" midfielder, due to his wide range of skills. He was best used as a central or defensive midfielder, often serving as either a box-to-box midfielder or mezzala – due to his work-rate, ball-winning abilities, and ability to help out in both attack and defence – or as a deep-lying playmaker, due to his range of passing, awareness, and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates after winning back possession. He was also capable of contributing to his team's offensive play with goals, courtesy of his powerful and accurate striking ability from outside the area, as well as his ability to get on the end of his teammates' passes by making late attacking runs into the box from behind. Strootman had been compared to compatriot Mark van Bommel. During his first season with Roma (2013–14), he earned the nickname la lavatrice ("the washing machine", in Italian), for his ability to always clean up play by winning back the ball and then distributing it precisely to his teammates.

Club

International

Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Strootman goal.