Joost Maurits van Aken (born 13 May 1994) 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

centre-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 ...

. He started his senior career at

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 ...

, and has also played for

Sheffield Wednesday Sheffield Wednesday Football Club is a professional association football club based in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. The team competes in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. Formed in 1867 as an offshoot of ...

VfL Osnabrück VfL Osnabrück is a German multi-sport club in Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. It currently fields teams in basketball, gymnastics, swimming, table tennis, and tennis but is by far best known for its football section. History Foundation to WW2 The cl ...

and

Zulte Waregem Sportvereniging Zulte Waregem (), commonly known as Zulte Waregem or by their nickname Essevee (), is a Belgian professional football club based in Waregem, West Flanders. Zulte Waregem plays in the Belgian First Division A. Their highest finish a ...

. Internationally, he has played for the Netherlands under-21s.

Career

SC Heerenveen

Van Aken made his first appearance for SC Heerenveen on 16 February 2014 against the then champions

AFC Ajax Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or simply Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the , the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the l ...

. Around two months later, van Aken scored his first goal for the club against

Go Ahead Eagles Go Ahead Eagles () are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in the 2020-21 season. The club's h ...

. In June 2015, van Aken signed a new three-year contract running until 2018. He went on to make 92 appearances for the club in all competitions, scoring three goals.

Sheffield Wednesday

On 30 August 2017, Sheffield Wednesday announced that they had signed van Aken from Eredevisie side

for an undisclosed fee on a four-year contract. He was assigned the number 4 shirt. van Aken made his Football League debut on 9 September, playing the entire ninety minutes in a 3–1 victory over

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is an association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. Nottingham Forest was founded in 1865 and have been playing their home games at the City Ground, on the banks of the River Tren ...

. On 14 August 2019, van Aken joined

on a loan deal until the end of 2019–20 season. On 12th September 2020 Van Aken returned to the Sheffield Wednesday starting line up and had a very impressive game against Cardiff City FC. He was sent off at home to

Luton Town Luton Town Football Club () is a professional association football club based in the town of Luton, Bedfordshire, England, that competes in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1885, it is nicknam ...

resulting in defeat on 24 October 2020, ending a run of games since his return to the club. On 20 May 2021 it was announced that he would leave Sheffield Wednesday at the end of the season, following the expiry of his contract.

Zulte Waregem

On 15 May 2021, Zulte Waregem announced that van Aken had signed a two-year deal with the Belgian club. He made his competitive debut on 24 July in the

Jupiler Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 team ...

against

OH Leuven Oud-Heverlee Leuven (), also called OH Leuven or OHL, is a Belgian football club from the city of Leuven. It was created in 2002 from the merger of three clubs, '' F.C. Zwarte Duivels Oud-Heverlee'', whose registration number it inherited, ''D ...

, getting sent off in a 1–1 draw. On 25 January 2022, he was released from his contract.

Return to Heerenveen

On 7 February 2022, van Aken returned to

until the end of the 2021–22 season, signing as a free agent.

Career statistics

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
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Netherlands profile
at OnsOranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Aken, Joost van 1994 births Footballers from Haarlem Living people Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football defenders HFC Haarlem players AFC Ajax players SC Heerenveen players Sheffield Wednesday F.C. players VfL Osnabrück players S.V. Zulte Waregem players Eredivisie players English Football League players 2. Bundesliga players Belgian Pro League players Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium