Kevin Johannes Willem Strootman (born 13 February 1990) 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

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

for Italian club

Genoa Genoa ( ; it, Genova ; lij, Zêna ). is the capital of the Italian region of Liguria and the List of cities in Italy, sixth-largest city in Italy. In 2015, 594,733 people lived within the city's administrative limits. As of the 2011 Italian ce ...

, on loan from French club

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

Club career

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 The Eerste Divisie (, en, First Division) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie and with the third-level Tweede Divisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the ...

Utrecht

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

PSV

Strootman was joined at PSV with fellow Utrecht recruit

Dries Mertens Dries Mertens (; born 6 May 1987), nicknamed "Ciro", is a Belgian professional footballer who plays as a striker or winger for Süper Lig club Galatasaray and the Belgium national team.

. Strootman made his PSV debut in a 3–1 home win against AZ. He made 88 total appearances for the

Eindhoven Eindhoven () is a city and municipality in the Netherlands, located in the southern province of North Brabant of which it is its largest. With a population of 238,326 on 1 January 2022,Major League Soccer (MLS) All-Stars, Strootman scored one goal and assisted another as Roma prevailed 3–1 at

Sporting Park Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandotte County, Kansas. It opened during th ...

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of ...

. He scored his first competitive goal for Roma in 3–1

Serie A The Serie A (), also called Serie A TIM for national sponsorship with TIM, is a professional league competition for football clubs located at the top of the Italian football league system and the winner is awarded the Scudetto and the Coppa ...

victory over

Parma Parma (; egl, Pärma, ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmigiano-Reggiano, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,292 ...

. He went on to score in matches against

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

Atalanta Atalanta (; grc-gre, Ἀταλάντη, Atalantē) meaning "equal in weight", is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene and who is primarily known ...

Milan Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city h ...

and

Livorno Livorno () is a port city on the Ligurian Sea on the western coast of Tuscany, Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Livorno, having a population of 158,493 residents in December 2017. It is traditionally known in English as Leghorn (pronou ...

. On 9 March 2014, Strootman sustained a knee injury in Roma's 1–0 defeat to

Napoli Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

which made him miss the remainder of the 2013–14 season and the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil from 12 June to 13 July 2014, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, where the Dutch selection finished third. On 9 November, Strootman made his first appearance for Roma in exactly eight months, appearing as an 84th-minute substitute in a 3–0 defeat of Torino at the

Stadio Olimpico The Stadio Olimpico (English: ''Olympic Stadium'') is the largest sports facility in Rome, Italy, seating over 70,000 spectators. It is located within the Foro Italico sports complex, north of the city. The structure is owned by the Italian Na ...

. His first start of the 2014–15 season came in a 2–2 draw with

Sassuolo Sassuolo (; egl, label=Modenese dialect, Modenese, Sasól ) is an Italian town, ''comune'', and industrial centre of the Province of Modena in Emilia-Romagna. Standing on the right bank of the river Secchia some southwest of Modena, the town ...

on 7 December. He assisted the first of captain

Francesco Totti Francesco Totti (; born 27 September 1976) is an Italian former professional Association football, footballer who played solely for A.S. Roma, Roma and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. He is often referred to as ''Er Bim ...

's two goals after appearing as a substitute in Roma's 2–2 draw with

Lazio it, Laziale , population_note = , population_blank1_title = , population_blank1 = , demographics_type1 = , demographics1_footnotes = , demographics1_title1 = , demographics1_info1 = , demographics1_title2 ...

in the 175th

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale ( en, Derby of the capital city), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the football local derby in Rome, Italy, between Lazio and Ro ...

on 12 January 2015. On 26 January 2015, Strootman was substituted in a

fixture against

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fo ...

after sustaining further damage to his anterior cruciate ligament. Three days later, it was confirmed that the player would again undergo knee surgery. On 26 August, it was reported that, in spite of failing to make a single appearance in seven months, Strootman's injury required further surgery which sidelined the player for the majority of the

2015–16 Serie A The 2015–16 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 114th season of top-tier Italian football, the 84th in a round-robin tournament, and the 6th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season. He made his first appearance of the season on 21 February 2016, as a substitute in a 5–0 home defeat of

Palermo Palermo ( , ; scn, Palermu , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan ...

. On 2 May, he made his first start in over 15 months, playing the full 90 minutes in Roma's 3–2 win at

. He ended the season with five appearances, including two starts. His only assist of the season came in a 3–1 final day victory over

at the

San Siro Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, commonly known as San Siro, is a football stadium in the San Siro district of Milan, Italy, which is the home of A.C. Milan and Inter Milan. It has a seating capacity of 80,018, making it one of the largest stadiums in ...

. On 20 August 2016, Strootman captained Roma in the opening match of the

2016–17 Serie A The 2016–17 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 115th season of top-tier Italian football, the 85th in a round-robin tournament, and the 7th since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B. ...

season, a 4–0 home win against

Udinese Udinese Calcio, commonly referred to as Udinese, is a professional Italian football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, that currently plays in Serie A. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sports club, and on 5 July 1911 as a fo ...

. In the team's second fixture, he scored his first goal since January 2014 as Roma drew 2–2 at

Cagliari Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...

. On 29 May 2017, Strootman signed a new five-year contract with the 2017 Serie A runners-up.

Marseille

On 28 August 2018,

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; oc, Olimpic de Marselha, ), also known simply as Marseille or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional men's football club based in Marseille, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur. Founded in 1899, the club pl ...

agreed with A.S. Roma on a €25 million (plus €3 million of bonus) transfer fee and signed Strootman on a five-year contract. AS Roma published a thank you and confirmation of the transfer on their website. Strootman mentioned the club's history, ambitions as well as his close relationship with coach

Rudi Garcia Rudi José Garcia (; ; born 20 February 1964) is a French professional football manager and former player who is the manager of Saudi Professional League club Al Nassr. Early life Rudi Garcia's father, José, was a Spanish expatriate who played ...

as motivating factors to join the club. On 10 January 2020, Strootman scored an 84th minute winner for Marseille after coming on as a substitute against

Rennes Rennes (; br, Roazhon ; Gallo: ''Resnn''; ) is a city in the east of Brittany in northwestern France at the confluence of the Ille and the Vilaine. Rennes is the prefecture of the region of Brittany, as well as the Ille-et-Vilaine department ...

Loan to Genoa

On 12 January 2021 Strootman was loaned to

club

until the end of the season.

Loan to Cagliari

On 3 July 2021, Strootman was announced by

club

, on loan until the end of the 2021–22 season, with an option to renew for the 2022–23 season included.

Return to Genoa

On 24 August 2022, Strootman returned to

on a new loan.

International career

Strootman made his senior international debut for the Netherlands against

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

in 2011 and scored his first international goal against

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

in a UEFA Euro 2012 qualifier. He was a member of the Netherlands' squad at

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

but did not appear in any matches as the Dutch were knocked out at the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

. He appeared for the Netherlands U21 team at the 2013 UEFA Euro U21 Championship where the team reached the semi-finals, losing to

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. Strootman was a regular in

Louis van Gaal Aloysius Paulus Maria "Louis" van Gaal (; born 8 August 1951) is a Dutch former football player and manager. At club level, he served as manager of Ajax, Barcelona, AZ Alkmaar, Bayern Munich and Manchester United, as well as having three spel ...

'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

and the entirety of the team's unsuccessful

UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying The UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying tournament was a football competition that was played from September 2014 to November 2015 to determine the 23 UEFA member men's national teams joining the automatically qualified host team France in the UEFA Euro 2 ...

campaign. He was selected to start in a friendly match against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

, playing 70 minutes before being substituted for

Marco van Ginkel Marco Wulfert Cornelis van Ginkel (; born 1 December 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Eredivisie club Vitesse. He can also play as a defensive or attacking midfielder. Van Ginkel began his career in the y ...

Style of play

Strootman is said to be a dynamic and tough-tackling midfielder, who also possesses good vision, technique, and balance on the ball. A tall, physically strong and tactically intelligent left-footed player, he has been described as a "modern" midfielder, due to his wide range of skills. He is best used as a

central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

or defensive midfielder, often serving as either a

box-to-box midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

mezzala A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

– due to his work-rate, ball-winning abilities, and ability to help out in both attack and defence – or as a deep-lying

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a player who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing passing moves which lead to goals, through their vision, technique, ball control, creativit ...

, due to his range of passing, awareness, and ability to create goalscoring opportunities for his teammates after winning back possession. He is 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 has been compared to compatriot

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. He is currently the manager of Belgian side Royal Antwerp. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackli ...

. 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.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''As of match played 11 October 2013. Netherlands score listed first, score column indicates score after each Strootman goal.''

Honours

PSV *

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 ...

: 2011–12 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

References

External links

*
U21 stats
at Ons Oranje {{DEFAULTSORT:Strootman, Kevin 1990 births Living people Footballers from Ridderkerk Association football midfielders Dutch footballers Dutch expatriate footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Netherlands international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Serie A players Serie B players Ligue 1 players FC Utrecht players Sparta Rotterdam players PSV Eindhoven players A.S. Roma players Olympique de Marseille players Genoa C.F.C. players Cagliari Calcio players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Italy Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in France UEFA Euro 2012 players