Kenji Joel Gorré (born 29 September 1994) is a 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 winger for Qatari club

Umm-Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipality in the State of Qatar. It contains several historic places, such as Barzan Tower. The municipal headquarters Umm Salal is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km from the coast and 15 ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he is the son of former professional footballer

Dean Gorré Dean Roberto Gorré (born 10 September 1970) is a Dutch-Surinamese football coach and former player. He is currently the interim coach of the Curaçao national team. Playing career Gorré made his debut on 20 April 1988 for SVV. He also went ...

, and represents

Curaçao Curaçao ( ; ; pap, Kòrsou, ), officially the Country of Curaçao ( nl, Land Curaçao; pap, Pais Kòrsou), is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about north of the Venezuela coast ...

at international level.

Club career

Youth career

Born in

Spijkenisse Spijkenisse () is a city in the province of South Holland, Netherlands. Following an administrative reform in 2015, it is part of the municipality of Nissewaard, and has a population of 72,500. It covers an area of of which is water. It is part ...

, Netherlands, Gorré lived in Netherlands before moving to England, when his father transferred to

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The team have played home games at the Kirklees Stadium since moving from Leeds Road in 1994. The ...

when he was four and lived in England ever since. Gorré attended

North Cestrian Grammar School North Cestrian School, formerly North Cestrian Grammar School, is a free school in Altrincham, Greater Manchester, England, for pupils aged between 11 and 16. North Cestrian is part of the Hamblin Educational Trust. History The school was o ...

. Gorré's decision to play football was supported by his parents. In 2002, Gorré moved from Manchester City Academy to

Manchester United Academy Manchester United Football Club Under-21s is the most senior of Manchester United's youth teams and the club's former reserve team. They play in the Premier League 2, the highest tier of the Professional Development League. The team is effectiv ...

. When Gorré was fifteen, Gorré became a transfer target from

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

and

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 ...

. Despite, Gorré remained at the club and two years later, on 26 July 2011, Gorré scored in a 7–0 win over County Tyrone in the

Milk Cup SuperCupNI, formerly called the Northern Ireland Youth Soccer Tournament and the Dale Farm Milk Cup, is an international youth football tournament held annually in Northern Ireland. The cup matches are mainly played in the North Coast area of ...

. The following month, Gorré began to start his first year scholars at the academy. Then in February 2013, Gorré went on trial at

Scottish Premier League The Scottish Premier League (SPL) was the top level league competition for professional football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football' ...

champions

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language * Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Fo ...

, but he did not sign on a permanent basis. This came after Gorré was released from the

Swansea City

In March 2013, Gorré began training with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Foo ...

side

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club (; cy, Clwb Pêl-droed Cymdeithas Dinas Abertawe) is a professional football club based in Swansea, Wales that plays in the Championship, the second tier of English football. Swansea have played their ho ...

. Gorré made an impressive performance at the trial and convinced the Swansea City management to give him a one-year contract. Shortly signing for Swansea City, Gorré was featured in the pre-season friendly matches and scored two goals against

Excelsior Excelsior, a Latin comparative word often translated as "ever upward" or "even higher", may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * ''Excelsior'' (Macedo ...

and

Haaglandia VV Haaglandia was an association football club from Rijswijk, Netherlands. The club was established on 1 July 2005 through a merger of amateur sides RVC/Rijswijk (who merged years earlier themselves) and FC Kranenburg. It later played in the Hoofd ...

. Despite being given forty-six shirt, Gorré was sent to the Swansea City Reserves and played there throughout the 2013–14 season. On 4 July 2014, Gorré signed a new two-year contract keeping him at the club until June 2016. This came after when Gorré was offered a professional contract. Later in the 2014–15 season, Gorré became the top scorer for Swansea Under-21s during the 2014–15 Professional U21 Development League 2 season, and scored twice as the Under-21s won the

league League or The League may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Leagues'' (band), an American rock band * ''The League'', an American sitcom broadcast on FX and FXX about fantasy football Sports * Sports league * Rugby league, full contact footba ...

title. After impressing for the Under-21s, Gorré made his professional debut for Swansea in a 1–0

loss away to

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition building * ...

on 24 May 2015. On 6 July 2015, Gorré signed a new three-year contract with Swansea City, keeping him at the club until the summer of 2018. Two days later, on 8 July 2015, Swansea City agreed a deal to loan Gorré out to Dutch side

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation f ...

, Gorré made his ADO Den Haag debut as a 76th-minute substitute, and set up a goal from a free kick to goalkeeper, Martin Hansen, to score his first ever professional goal, to earn his team a last-minute draw against PSV. However, six days later, Gorré was sent to the reserves to play against Jong Heracles and in the 36th minute, he received a straight red card for a professional foul. After the match, KNVB decided against giving Gorré a game suspension. However, Gorré went on to make five appearances, having spent the first half of the season at ADO Den Haag on the bench and on 30 January 2016, it was confirmed that Gorré had returned to Swansea City following his loan spell at ADO Den Haag. Following his return from a loan at ADO Den Haag, Gorré returned to the club's reserves and scored on his return, in a 2–1 win over

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Derby, Derbyshire, England. In 2022, it was announced that DCFC was acquired by Clowes Developments (UK) Ltd, a Derbyshire-based property group. Founded in 1884 ...

. On 29 July 2016, Gorré joined

Northampton Town Northampton Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in the town of Northampton, England. The team plays in , the fourth tier of the English football league system. Founded in 1897, the club competed in the Midland ...

on a six-month loan deal until January 2017. He was unable to break into the first team at Swansea, and despite being offered a new contract, he left the club at the end of his original three-year deal in June 2018.

Nacional

Following his release by Swansea, Gorré signed for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. In January 2019 he dropped a division to join

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

side

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the Municipality of Cascais, Portugal, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a tourist destination, with luxury hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numerous royal families and celebrities, and has host ...

on loan until the end of the remaining season.

Boavista

On 22 July 2021,

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

-based side Boavista announced the free signing of Gorré on a two-year contract.

Umm Salal

On 16 June 2023, after his contract with Boavista expired, Gorré signed a two-year deal with

Qatari Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sha ...

club

Umm Salal Umm Salal (; also spelled Umm Slal) is a municipality in the State of Qatar. It contains several historic places, such as Barzan Tower. The municipal headquarters Umm Salal is located in Umm Salal Ali, about 10 km from the coast and 15 ...

International career

Gorré was born in the Netherlands to a Surinamese father,

, and a Curaçaoan mother (Magali from

The Real Housewives of Cheshire ''The Real Housewives of Cheshire'' (abbreviated ''RHOCheshire'') is a British reality television series that premiered on ITVBe on 12 January 2015. Developed as the first British installment in ''The Real Housewives'' franchise, it has aired ...

) and is eligible for all three national teams. Gorré is also eligible to play for

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

, citing having engaged in a minimum of five years education under the age of 18 within the territory of the relevant association. Gorré was initially approached by the

English FA The Football Association (also known as The FA) is the Sports governing body, governing body of association football in England and the Crown Dependencies of Jersey, Bailiwick of Guernsey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man. Formed in 1863, it is the ...

before being selected by

KNVB The Royal Dutch Football Association (, ; KNVB ) is the governing body of football in the Netherlands. It organises the main Dutch football leagues (Eredivisie and Eerste Divisie), the amateur leagues, the KNVB Cup, and the Dutch Netherlands nati ...

instead. He never played for their youth team. In November 2016, Gorré was called up to and played for the Curaçao national team in their friendly against

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 ...

side

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

. In 2019, he was selected for the country's 2019 Gold Cup squad and made his debut on 25 June 2019 in the last group game against

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

. He came on as a substitute in the 70th minute for

Jarchinio Antonia Jarchinio Angelo Roberto Antonia (born 27 December 1990) is a Curaçaoan professional footballer who plays as a winger for Eerste Divisie club NAC Breda and the Curaçao national team. Club career Antonia formerly played for ADO Den Haag and ...

, Curaçao equalised in added time to advance to the knock-out stage.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gorre, Kenji 1994 births Living people People educated at North Cestrian Grammar School Curaçao men's footballers Footballers from South Holland Men's association football forwards Curaçao men's international footballers 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Curaçao people of Surinamese descent Manchester City F.C. players Manchester United F.C. players Premier League players Swansea City A.F.C. players Northampton Town F.C. players Primeira Liga players C.D. Nacional players Liga Portugal 2 players G.D. Estoril Praia players Boavista F.C. players Eredivisie players ADO Den Haag players Qatar Stars League players Umm Salal SC players Curaçao expatriate men's footballers Dutch emigrants to England British people of Surinamese descent Curaçao expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Dutch men's footballers People from Spijkenisse Dutch people of Curaçao descent Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Dutch expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Greater Manchester English expatriate sportspeople in Portugal English expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Qatar