Philippe Sandler (born 10 February 1997) 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 ...

for

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion fr ...

Club career

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Amstel'') is the Capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, most populous city of the Netherlands, with The Hague being the seat of government. It has a population ...

, Sandler began his senior career with

PEC Zwolle PEC Zwolle is a Dutch football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie in the 2021–22 season. They have played in the Eredivisie for a total ...

in the 2016–17 season, having previously played youth football for

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 ...

. In January 2018 it was announced that Sandler would leave PEC Zwolle to join English club

Manchester City 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 Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the summer of 2018, for a transfer fee reported to be between €2.5 and 3 million. The transfer went through on 31 July 2018. Sandler requested the number 34 shirt in tribute to former Ajax teammate

Abdelhak Nouri Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri (born 2 April 1997) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but could also be deployed as a winger. A youth product of Eredivisie club Ajax ...

, who collapsed and suffered brain damage, ending his career. Sandler made his City debut on 6 January 2019, coming on as a substitute in a 7–0 win over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . The club's colours were initially yellow and black, but changed to red and white around 1 ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual knockout football competition in men's domestic English football. First played during the 1871–72 season, it is the oldest national football competi ...

. Sandler was loaned to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (, ) is one of the 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, and Saint-Gilles, as well as the ...

for the 2019–20 season, joining up with Anderlecht player-manager, former City teammate

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (; ; born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional football manager and former player who played as a centre-back and is the current manager of EFL Championship club Burnley. He most notably played for Manchester City f ...

. In the 2020–21 season, Sandler underwent surgery for an ankle injury which left him out of the City first team squad for almost the entire season. He was however able to play in some of the final Academy team games of the season. On 31 August 2021 he moved on loan to French club

Troyes Troyes () is a commune and the capital of the department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within the Champagne wine region and is near to ...

. After two appearances, the loan was ended on 25 January 2022. He signed for

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Dutch professional football club in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the club changed to various names before settling on being called after its ...

on 1 February 2022, signing a contract until the end of the season with the option to extend for another year. He made his debut for the club on 8 May in a 2–2 draw against PSV. On 27 May 2022, Feyenoord confirmed that the club would not be using the option to extend his contract for another year. On 11 August 2022, Sandler signed a three-year contract with

. He scored his first goal in the Eredivisie on 23 October, deep into overtime to secure a 3–3 home draw 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 ...

International career

Sandler has represented the Netherlands at under-20 level. He is eligible to play for the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, and

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

having been born in Amsterdam to a South African father and American mother.

Personal life

Sandler's father is Jewish.

Career statistics

Honours

Feyenoord *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Europa Conference League (abbreviated as UECL) is an annual football club competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. Clubs qualify for the competition based on their ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandler, Philippe Living people 1997 births Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch people of American descent Dutch people of South African descent Dutch people of Jewish descent Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers AFC Ajax players PEC Zwolle players Manchester City F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players ES Troyes AC players Feyenoord players NEC Nijmegen players Eredivisie players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Association football defenders Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate footballers in France