Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈrɪki vɑn ˈʋɔlfsˌʋɪŋkəl]; born 27 January 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Swiss Super League club Basel. He has played top-flight football in the Netherlands, Portugal, England, France, Spain and Switzerland and has been capped twice by the Netherlands national team.

Ricky van Wolfswinkel

Van Wolfswinkel playing for Saint-Étienne in 2014
Personal information
Full name	Ricky van Wolfswinkel[1]
Date of birth	(1989-01-27) 27 January 1989
Place of birth	Woudenberg, Netherlands
Height	1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)
Playing position(s)	Striker
Club information
Current team	Basel
Number	9
Youth career
1998–1999	v.v. Woudenberg
1999–2008	Vitesse
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2008–2009	Vitesse	33	(8)
2009–2011	Utrecht	64	(26)
2011–2013	Sporting CP	55	(28)
2013–2016	Norwich City	25	(1)
2014–2015	→ Saint-Étienne (loan)	28	(5)
2015–2016	→ Real Betis (loan)	16	(1)
2016–2017	Vitesse	32	(20)
2017–	Basel	57	(24)
National team^‡
2008	Netherlands U19	2	(0)
2009–2010	Netherlands U21	7	(3)
2010–	Netherlands	2	(0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 1 March 2020 ‡ National team caps and goals correct as of 16 July 2014

Club career

Vitesse

Van Wolfswinkel started his football career at the D-pupils of Vitesse Arnhem. In the A-juniors, he became top scorer in the national first division, winning a prize awarded by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) for the feat. This prize was presented by Wesley Sneijder in 2007.[2] On 5 April 2008, Van Wolfswinkel made his debut for Vitesse's first team in a match against Sparta Rotterdam, in which he was the substitute in the 85th minute for Santi Kolk. Against De Graafschap, in the 2008–09 season, he was in the starting lineup for the first time. In his third match that season, against Sparta Rotterdam, he scored his first Eredivisie goal.[3]

Utrecht

On 29 May 2009, Van Wolfswinkel announced his departure from Vitesse, subsequently signing a three-year contract with FC Utrecht.[4] He began the 2010–11 league campaign with a goal in a 3–1 loss against Feyenoord. On 22 August 2010, he scored two goals against Willem II resulting in a 3–0 win for Utrecht. On 26 August 2010, Van Wolfswinkel scored a hat-trick against Celtic in the UEFA Europa League; Utrecht went on to win the match 4–0.[5] On 3 October 2010, Van Wolfswinkel scored two penalties against Ajax to gain a 2–1 away win over the Dutch runners-up.

Sporting CP

On 3 June 2011, Van Wolfswinkel moved to Sporting CP, signing a five-year contract on a €5.4 million deal;[6] Sporting CP was given financial aid by Sporting Portugal Fund and Quality Sports Investments. He scored his first goal for Sporting on 10 September 2011 against Paços de Ferreira in a 3–2 win. He was the SJPF Player of the Month for September 2011. Overall, he scored a total of 25 goals during the 2011–12 season, including a hat-trick in the final game, a 3–2 win over Braga at the Estádio José Alvalade on 12 May 2012.[7]

In his second season in Lisbon, Van Wolfswinkel recorded another 14 league goals in 30 games, although his team missed out on European competition by finishing 7th. He scored a hat-trick, again in a 3–2 win over Braga, on 1 April 2013.[8]

Norwich City

On 22 March 2013, it was announced that Van Wolfswinkel had agreed a deal to join English club Norwich City for the 2013–14 season, a transfer worth €10 million, plus up to €2 million in bonuses.[9][10] He joined the Canaries on 1 July on a four-year deal.[11] He stated that the famous Netherlands player Johan Neeskens had urged him to join Norwich, saying, "Ricky, you have to go. It's a great club for you. If you have a great feeling, do it."[12]

He scored on his league debut on 17 August, in a 2–2 home draw for Norwich against Everton.[13] After the match, he said in an interview that Manchester United and Netherlands international Robin van Persie also recommended Norwich to him. Van Persie was reported to have told Van Wolfswinkel that Norwich are "a difficult team to beat" and that the "crowd always get really behind them."[14]

Van Wolfswinkel was involved in controversy in the 0–0 home draw against Cardiff City on 26 October 2013. After teammate Alexander Tettey was injured, Cardiff goalkeeper David Marshall sportingly put the ball out of play. Van Wolfswinkel quickly threw the ball to Leroy Fer, who kicked the ball into the goal. This caused outrage amongst the Cardiff players, who started shoving both Van Wolfswinkel and Fer. The goal was disallowed despite it not technically being a violation of any rules.[15] In February 2014, he was alleged to have been kicked by Manchester City's Yaya Touré, who was investigated, and Van Wolfswinkel welcomed The FA's verdict that Touré has done no wrong.[16]

Van Wolfswinkel failed to score for the remainder of the season, making 25 Premier League appearances in total,[17] while Norwich were relegated to the Championship after finishing with only 33 points.[18]

Loans

On 5 August 2014, Van Wolfswinkel joined Saint-Étienne of the French Ligue 1 on a season-long loan. He stated that his goal was to work hard for the team and to be important for the club.[19] Van Wolfswinkel scored his first goal for the club on 25 September, the first goal in the 1–1 home draw against Bordeaux.[20] On 30 November, he scored the second goal as the team won 3–0 in the Derby du Rhône against Lyon, his team's first home win over their rivals in 20 years.[21]

Upon his return to Norwich from his loan spell at Saint-Étienne, he scored against Rotherham United in the League Cup second round on 25 August 2015, a 2–1 away win.[22]

On 31 August 2015, Van Wolfswinkel joined Real Betis of the Spanish La Liga on a season-long loan.[23] On 24 September, he made his first appearance in a 2–1 home defeat to Deportivo La Coruña, replacing Jorge Molina in the 59th minute.[24] He scored his first two goals on 15 December in a Copa del Rey tie against Sporting Gijón, which finished as a 3–3 draw,[25] and on 19 April 2016, he finally scored his first La Liga goal in a 1–0 home victory over Las Palmas.[26]

Return to Vitesse

On 28 July 2016, Van Wolfswinkel rejoined Vitesse for an undisclosed fee from Norwich.[27] On 6 August, he marked his comeback with a goal in the 21st minute to give Vitesse a 1–0 lead in an eventual 4–1 away victory over Willem II.[28]

He ultimately scored 20 goals in 32 games for the league season, one behind Golden Boot winner Nicolai Jørgensen. This included a hat-trick on 8 April 2017 in a 4–2 win over Heerenveen at the GelreDome.[29] He scored two goals in the final of the KNVB Beker against AZ on 30 April 2017 to lead the club to the title for the first time in its 125-year history.[30]

Basel

On 14 June 2017, it was announced that van Wolfswinkel would join Swiss side Basel on a three-year deal.[31] He made his first team league debut for his new club on 22 July in the 0–2 away defeat against Young Boys in the Stade de Suisse which was sold out with 31,120 spectators.[32] He scored his first goal in the next match on 30 July in the 3–1 home win against Luzern.[33] On 10 August, Van Wolfswinkel scored twice as Basel beat Grasshoppers 3–2; his first double strike for the club meant that he scored four times in his first four league games for the club.[34]

In the Champions League group stage home game against Benfica van Wolfswinkel injured himself and could not play again in the first half of the season. He returned to the team after three months on 17 December in the 2–0 away win against Grasshopper Club.[35] Under trainer Marcel Koller Basel won the Swiss Cup in the 2018–19 season. In the first round Basel beat lower classed FC Montlingen, in the second round Echallens Région and in the round of 16 Winterthur. In the quarter finals Sion were defeated and in the semi finals Zürich. All these games were played away from home. The final was held on the 19 May 2019 in the Stade de Suisse Wankdorf Bern against Thun. Stricker Albian Ajeti scored the first goal, Fabian Frei the second for Basel, then Dejan Sorgić netted a goal for Thun, but the end result was 2–1 for Basel.[36]

In August 2019, van Wolfswinkel underwent surgery for a brain aneurysm detected during a routine scan for concussion. An aneurysm is a balloon-like bulge in a blood vessel caused by a weakness in the blood vessel wall.[37]

International career

Van Wolfswinkel played several matches for the Netherlands' national youth sides in various age groups[38] and in August 2010 was called up for the senior national team for a friendly against Ukraine, during which he made his senior debut.[39] He earned his second full international cap against Indonesia in June 2013.[40]

Career statistics

As of match played 7 August 2019[41]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Vitesse	2007–08	Eredivisie	1	0	0	0	—		—		1	0
	2008–09		32	8	2	0	—		—		34	8
	Total		33	8	2	0	—		—		35	8
Utrecht	2009–10	Eredivisie	31	7	1	1	—		4[lower-alpha 1]	4	36	12
	2010–11		29	15	3	0	—		12[lower-alpha 2]	8	44	23
	Total		60	22	4	1	—		16	12	80	35
Sporting CP	2011–12	Primeira Liga	25	14	7	5	2	0	13[lower-alpha 2]	6	46	25
	2012–13		30	14	1	1	3	2	7[lower-alpha 2]	3	40	20
	Total		55	28	6	3	5	2	20	9	86	42
Norwich City	2013–14	Premier League	25	1	2	0	0	0	—		27	1
	2015–16		0	0	0	0	1	1	—		1	1
	Total		25	1	2	0	1	1	—		28	2
Saint-Étienne (loan)	2014–15	Ligue 1	28	5	4	3	2	0	6[lower-alpha 2]	1	40	9
Real Betis (loan)	2015–16	La Liga	16	1	3	2	—		—		19	3
Vitesse	2016–17	Eredivisie	32	20	5	3	—		—		37	23
Basel	2017–18	Swiss Super League	21	11	1	0	—		3	1	24	12
	2018–19		32	13	5	1	—		5	3	42	17
	2019–20		3	0	0	0	—		3	1	6	1
	Total		56	24	6	1	—		11	5	72	30
Career total			304	109	32	16	8	3	53	27	397	155

1. Appearances in Eredivisie European play-offs
2. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Sporting CP

• Taça de Portugal runner-up: 2011–12

Vitesse

• KNVB Cup: 2016–17

Basel

• Swiss Cup: 2018–19

Individual

• SJPF Player of the Month: September 2011

References

1. "Barclays Premier League Squad Numbers 2013/14". Premier League. 16 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
3. "Talentjagd: Eredivisie buhlt um van Wolfswinkel". Goal.com (in German). 10 July 2016. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
4. "Utrecht Sign Ricky Van Wolfswinkel From Vitesse". Goal.com. 29 May 2009. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
5. "Hoops humbled by Dutch". ESPN Soccernet. 26 August 2010. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
7. ""Hat-trick" de Wolfswinkel na vitória do Sporting" [Van Wolfswinkel "hat-trick" in Sporting victory]. Jornal de Notícias (in Portuguese). 12 May 2012. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
8. ""Hat-trick" de Van Wolfswinkel anima Sporting" [Van Wolfswinkel's "hat-trick" invigorates Sporting] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 1 April 2013. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
9. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel will join Norwich City, says Chris Hughton". The Guardian. 19 April 2013. Retrieved 26 July 2013.
10. "Comunicado" (PDF). Sporting CP (in Portuguese). CMVM. 23 March 2013.
11. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel: Norwich City agree deal for Dutch striker". BBC. 23 March 2013. Retrieved 24 March 2013.
12. Ricky van Wolfswinkel urged to join Norwich by Johan Neeskens", BBC Sport. 3 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2013.
13. "Norwich 2–2 Everton" BBC Sport. 17 August 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2013.
14. "Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel thanks Robin van Persie for recommending move to Carrow Road". Telegraph. 18 August 2013. Retrieved 21 August 2013.
15. Rogers, Gareth (28 October 2013). "Norwich City 0-0 Cardiff City: Player reaction from David Marshall and Leroy Fer". Wales Online. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
16. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel happy Yaya Toure not banned". BBC Sport. 11 February 2014. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
17. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel — Goal.com". Retrieved 29 May 2014.
18. "Norwich City relegated from the Premier League after Sunderland complete their great escape". Retrieved 29 May 2014.
19. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel joins Saint-Etienne on loan from Norwich". Retrieved 6 August 2014.
20. Beneddra, Naim (25 September 2014). "Saint-Etienne-Bordeaux (1–1), Bordeaux résiste à Saint-Etienne". Goal.com (in French). Retrieved 26 May 2015.
21. "St-Étienne end Lyon derby streak in style". UEFA. 30 November 2014. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
22. "Rotherham 1–2 Norwich". BBC Sport. 25 August 2015. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
23. "El Real Betis firma al delantero internacional holandés Van Wolfswinkel" [Real Betis signs Dutch international forward Van Wolfswinkel] (in Spanish). Betis' official website. 31 August 2015. Retrieved 31 August 2015.
24. "Real Betis vs. Deportivo La Coruña". Soccerway. 24 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
25. "Sporting Gijón vs. Real Betis". Soccerway. 15 December 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
26. "Real Betis vs. Las Palmas". Soccerway. 19 April 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
27. "Norwich City striker Ricky van Wolfswinkel completes permanent move to Vitesse Arnhem". Canaries.co.uk. Retrieved 29 July 2016.
28. "Willem II vs. Vitesse". Soccerway. 6 August 2016. Retrieved 19 August 2016.
29. "Van Wolfswinkel hat-trick downs Heerenveen". Sky Sports. 8 April 2017. Retrieved 20 December 2017.
30. "Van Wolfswinkel maakt overstap naar FC Basel". NOS (in Dutch). 14 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
31. "Van Wolfswinkel". FC Basel Official Site. 14 June 2017. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
32. Marti, Caspar (2017). "0:2-Niederlage in Bern zum Saisonauftakt". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 22 July 2017.
33. Herklotz, Guido (2017). "Der FCB gewinnt mit 3:1 gegen Luzern". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 30 July 2017.
34. "FC BASEL 1893 3:2 NSS GRASSHOPPER CLUB". SFL. 10 August 2017. Retrieved 10 August 2017.
35. Marti, Caspar (2017). "2:0-Sieg bei GC zum Abschluss des Jahres". FC Basel 1893. Retrieved 17 December 2017.
36. Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. "FC Basel - FC Thun 2:1 (1:0)". Verein "Basler Fussballarchiv”. Retrieved 16 November 2019.
37. "Ricky van Wolfswinkel: Basel striker diagnosed with brain aneurysm after concussion scans". BBC. 15 August 2019.
39. "Ukraine 1–1 Netherlands". ESPN Soccernet. 11 August 2010. Archived from the original on 15 July 2012. Retrieved 2 December 2010.
40. "Van Wolfswinkel not fazed by transfer fee". Fox Sports Asia. 2 July 2013. Retrieved 7 June 2013.
41. "R. van Wolfswinkel". Soccerway. Retrieved 20 August 2016.

External links

• Netherlands U19 stats at OnsOranje
• Netherlands U21 stats at OnsOranje
• Ricky van Wolfswinkel at Soccerbase
• Ricky van Wolfswinkel at Soccerway