Daley Sinkgraven (born 4 July 1995) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for club

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

Club career

Heerenveen

Sinkgraven started playing football with MVV Alcides from his hometown

Meppel Meppel (; Drents: ''Möppelt'') is a city and municipality in the Northeastern Netherlands. It constitutes the southwestern part of the province of Drenthe. Meppel is the smallest municipality in Drenthe, with a total area of about 57 km² (22 sq ...

. He ended up in the youth academy of

SC Heerenveen Sportclub Heerenveen (; West Frisian: Sportklub It Hearrenfean) is a Dutch football club from Heerenveen. They currently play in the Eredivisie, the top level of football in the Netherlands. History Sportclub Heerenveen was founded on 20 July ...

. Sinkgraven had a breakthrough season in 2013–14 playing 17 games while starting five of them. He made his debut in the 2–2 draw against

Roda JC Kerkrade Sportvereniging Roda Juliana Combinatie Kerkrade (; Ripuarian: ), also known as Roda JC Kerkrade () or commonly Roda JC or Roda, is a Dutch professional football club based in Kerkrade, Netherlands. Roda JC Kerkrade plays in the Eerste Divisie. ...

on 18 January 2014 by replacing

Hakim Ziyech Hakim Ziyech ( ar, حكيم زياش; ber, ⵃⴰⴽⵉⵎ ⵣⵉⵢⴰⵛ; born 19 March 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Chelsea. Born in the Netherlands, he represent ...

. On 28 March 2014, he extended his contract until the summer of 2017. On 22 November 2014, he scored an own goal in a 4–1 away loss to

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * ''Ajax'' (play), by the ancient Greek ...

. Sinkgraven's great performances for Heerenveen caught the eye of many giant English clubs.

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

and

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of City of Salford, Salford to ...

were all very interested in buying the teenage Sinkgraven.

Ajax

On 30 January 2015, after excellent performances for SC Heerenveen, it was announced that Sinkgraven had joined Ajax for a fee of €7 million at the tender age of 19 years old, making him the club's most expensive acquisition since

Miralem Sulejmani Miralem Sulejmani ( sr-Cyrl, Миралем Сулејмани, ; born 5 December 1988) is a Serbian professional footballer who plays as a winger. When he signed for Ajax in 2008, he became the most expensive football player to have ever been ...

, who had also made the transfer to Ajax from Heerenveen. He signed a five and a half year-contract with the club and was given the number 8 shirt previously worn by

Lerin Duarte Lerin Duarte (born 11 August 1990) is a Dutch professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder. Having come through the youth department of Sparta Rotterdam, he started his senior career at the club, before transferring t ...

, who was sent on a six-month loan spell to Heerenveen in return. He made his debut for the first team of Ajax in the starting lineup on 5 February 2015 in a 1–0 home loss to AZ. Sinkgraven helped guide Ajax to the final of the 2016–17 Europa League where they lost to Manchester United. Sinkgraven was also a part of the Ajax team that won the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; ''"Honour Division"'' or ''"Premier Division"'') is the highest level of professional football in the Netherlands. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start of professional football in the Netherlands. It is c ...

title and the Dutch

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; en, KNVB Cup), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Ou ...

during the 2018–19 season. In that same season, Sinkgraven also helped Ajax reach the semi-finals of the Champions League where they lost to

Tottenham Tottenham () is a town in North London, England, within the London Borough of Haringey. It is located in the ceremonial county of Greater London. Tottenham is centred north-northeast of Charing Cross, bordering Edmonton to the north, Waltham ...

, after knocking out

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

and

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in the previous rounds. Sinkgraven was hampered by injuries for a lot of the time, while at Ajax. In his four and a half years at Ajax, he missed 101 games through injury and he was out injured for a total of 738 days.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 17 June 2019, Sinkgraven signed for

on a four-year contract, to rejoin his former Ajax coach

Peter Bosz Peter Sylvester Bosz (, born 21 November 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. Playing career Club A midfielder, Bosz started his professional career played with Vitesse in 1981; after a loan season with then amate ...

International career

Sinkgraven has been capped at various youth levels, notably representing the Dutch U21, U19 teams. He has received call-ups for the senior national team but has not been capped as of July 2021.

Personal life

Sinkgraven is the son of Dutch football coach

Harry Sinkgraven Harm "Harry" Sinkgraven (born 21 January 1966) is a Dutch association football coach and former professional player. He managed Canadian soccer team FC Edmonton from December 2010 until he was released by the club in September 2012. Career Playi ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

Ajax *

: 2018–19 *

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (abbreviated as UEL, or sometimes, UEFA EL), formerly the UEFA Cup, is an annual football club competition organised since 1971 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It ...

runner-up: 2016–17

Club career

Heerenveen

Ajax

Bayer Leverkusen

International career

Personal life

Career statistics

Club

Honours

Club

References

External links