Patrick John Miguel van Aanholt (; born 29 August 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 ...

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

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 ...

club PSV, on loan from club

Galatasaray Galatasaray Spor Kulübü (, ''Galatasaray Sports Club'') is a Turkish sports club based on the European side of the city of Istanbul in Turkey. Most notable for its association football department, the club also consists of various other de ...

, and the Netherlands national team. He began his professional career at

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 ...

, where he was used sparingly, spending time on loan at five other clubs. He joined Sunderland for around £1.5 million in 2014 and was transferred to Crystal Palace in January 2017, for a fee rising to £14 million. Van Aanholt represented the Netherlands at numerous youth levels before making his full international debut in 2013. He played for the senior side at

UEFA Euro 2020 The 2020 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2020 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2020) or simply Euro 2020, was the 16th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe ...

Early life

Van Aanholt was born in

's-Hertogenbosch s-Hertogenbosch (), colloquially known as Den Bosch (), is a city and municipality in the Netherlands with a population of 157,486. It is the capital of the province of North Brabant and its fourth largest by population. The city is south of th ...

to parents from Curaçao. He is the cousin of fellow Dutch international

Leroy Fer Leroy Johan Fer (born 5 January 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Turkish Süper Lig club Alanyaspor. He also represented the Netherlands, making 11 appearances between 2010 and 2014. Fer has various ...

Club career

Chelsea

Van Aanholt joined

's youth ranks in 2007, making his professional debut while on loan at

Coventry City Coventry City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Coventry, West Midlands, England. The team currently compete in the Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. The club is nicknamed t ...

on 9 August 2009 in a 2–1 Football League Championship win over

Ipswich Town Ipswich Town Football Club is a professional association football club based in Ipswich, Suffolk, England. They play in League One, the third tier of the English football league system. The club was founded in 1878 but did not turn profession ...

. He was later recalled to Chelsea in December due to the exit of many players due to the African Nations Cup. Van Aanholt was first selected for Chelsea in an

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 ...

tie away to Preston North End in the 2009–10 edition of the Cup, wearing the squad number 52, but did not make an appearance, remaining on the bench. He made his Chelsea debut on 24 March 2010 in a 0–5 away win at

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

, replacing

Yuri Zhirkov Yuri Valentinovich Zhirkov ( rus, Ю́рий Валенти́нович Жирко́в, p=ˈjʉrʲɪj vəlʲɪnˈtʲinəvʲɪtɕ ʐɨrˈkof; born 20 August 1983) is a Russian footballer. A left-sided player who can play full-back or winger, Zh ...

at left-back after 71 minutes. He then made his home debut, on 27 March 2010, against Aston Villa in a 7–1 victory, again as a substitute. On 29 January 2010, Van Aanholt joined Newcastle United on a one-month loan deal after regular left back José Enrique suffered an injury. He provided cover for the Spaniard, sustaining Newcastle's productive left flank alongside Jonás Gutiérrez. Van Aanholt played his last game in the 1–2 away victory at

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

. Van Aanholt scored his first career goal on 22 September 2010 in the 4–3 defeat to former club Newcastle in the

League Cup In several sports, most prominently association football, a league cup or secondary cup generally signifies a cup competition for which entry is restricted only to teams in a particular league. The first national association football tournament t ...

. On 26 January 2011, he joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city, unitary authority and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest settlement in the East Midlands. The city lies on the River Soar and close to the eastern end of the National ...

on loan until the end of the season. He made his debut in a 1–0 win over

Sheffield United Sheffield United Football Club is a professional football club in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England, which compete in the . They are nicknamed "the Blades" due to Sheffield's history of cutlery production. The team have played home games at ...

on 1 February 2011, and suffered a torn muscle in his thigh at the end of the month after playing six games. Van Aanholt scored his first senior league goal in a 4–0 victory over

Burnley Burnley () is a town and the administrative centre of the wider Borough of Burnley in Lancashire, England, with a 2001 population of 73,021. It is north of Manchester and east of Preston, Lancashire, Preston, at the confluence of the River C ...

on 9 April 2011. On transfer deadline day, 31 August 2011, Van Aanholt signed for Wigan Athletic on a season-long loan deal. Van Aanholt's loan spell, originally a season-long arrangement, was later terminated by mutual consent between all three parties. During this uneventful loan spell, Van Aanholt played three league matches and one League Cup tie for the ''Latics'', but did not feature in their first team after 1 October.

Vitesse (loan spells)

On 6 January 2012, Van Aanholt returned to Chelsea during a season-long loan at Wigan. Nine days later, he signed for Dutch club Vitesse on loan until the end of the season, alongside fellow Chelsea teammates Tomáš Kalas and

Ulises Dávila Ulises Alejandro Dávila Plascencia (born 13 April 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder for A-League club Macarthur FC whom he captains. Club career Guadalajara Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco, Dávila ...

. On 11 July 2012, Van Aanholt rejoined Vitesse on a new loan deal for the 2012–13 season. On 7 July 2013, the Vitesse loan deal was extended for the 2013–14 season. He made his first start of the 2013–14 season in a 1–1 first leg draw away at Petrolul Ploiești in the

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. ...

, a match in which he was booked in the 86th minute. He went on to start eight of the next nine league fixtures for Vitesse, including earning an assist in a 1–1 draw at

Roda JC 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 Divisi ...

. On 7 December 2013, Van Aanholt netted Vitesse's fifth goal in a 2–6 away victory over PSV, keeping Vitesse at the top of the

table.

Sunderland

2014–15 season

On 25 July 2014, Van Aanholt left Chelsea and signed for Sunderland for an undisclosed fee, believed to be between £1.5–2 million, on a four-year contract. He made his competitive debut on 16 August as Sunderland began their

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 Fo ...

campaign away to

West Bromwich Albion West Bromwich Albion Football Club () is an English professional football club based in West Bromwich, West Midlands, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was formed in 1878 and has pl ...

, assisting Sebastian Larsson for the final goal of a 2–2 draw. On 3 November, as Sunderland won 1–3 at

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 ...

; Van Aanholt set up the opening goal for Steven Fletcher, but was later stretchered off in the first-half with a shoulder injury and replaced by

Wes Brown Wesley Michael Brown (born 13 October 1979) is an English former professional association football, footballer who played as a defender (association football), defender. Brown began his career with Manchester United F.C., Manchester United, jo ...

. Van Aanholt scored his first goal for Sunderland on his return from injury on 4 January 2015, the only goal in an

third round win over

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire in England. The club competes in the Premier League, the highest level of England's football league system, and plays its home matches at Elland Road ...

2015–16 season

On 28 November 2015, Van Aanholt scored the first goal in a 2–0 win at home against Stoke City. He scored his second of the season on 16 January 2016, where he gave Sunderland the lead against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as Tottenham () or Spurs, is a professional football club based in Tottenham, London, England. It competes in the Premier League, the top flight of English football. The team has playe ...

, although Sunderland would go on to lose 4–1. His third of the season came the following week, on 23 January 2016, where he scored the equaliser in a 1–1 draw at home to AFC Bournemouth. He scored his fourth goal of the season when he opened the scoring with a 25-yard free-kick in a 3–0 win against Everton. The result sealed Sunderland's Premier League safety, and relegated local rivals Newcastle United, along with

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club (also known as The Canaries or The Yellows) is an English professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk. The club competes in the EFL Championship following their relegation from the Premier League in the 20 ...

. On 8 June 2016, Van Aanholt put pen to paper, signing a new four-year deal, keeping him at the club until the year 2020. Patrick van Aanholt in 2017 (cropped)

2016–17 season

On 13 August 2016, in the opening game of the season, Van Aanholt conceded an early penalty, as Sunderland fell to a 2–1 defeat at Manchester City. He scored his first goal of the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

on 21 August 2016 in a 1–2 Premier League defeat to

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ) is a town on the southern bank of the River Tees in North Yorkshire, England. It is near the North York Moors national park. It is the namesake and main town of its local borough council area. Until the early 1800s, the a ...

On 1 October, he came off the bench to score a late equaliser in a 1–1 draw at home to West Brom. Van Aanholt scored his third goal of the season on 17 December to give Sunderland a 1–0 home win against Watford.

Crystal Palace

On 30 January 2017, it was confirmed that Van Aanholt had moved to

on a four-and-a-half-year deal for an initial fee of £9 million, rising to £14 million, rejoining his former Sunderland manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (; born 19 October 1954), colloquially referred to as Big Sam, is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football Lea ...

. He was given the number 3 shirt. Van Aanholt made his first appearance for Palace in a 2–0 win at Bournemouth on 31 January. His home debut, a 0–4 loss to former club Sunderland at Selhurst Park, came four days later. On 25 February 2017, Van Aanholt scored his first goal for Crystal Palace in a 1–0 victory against relegation rivals

. On 24 August 2019, Van Aanholt scored a last minute winner against Manchester United in an away game which Crystal Palace won 2–1. Van Aanholt became the first away player to score a last minute winner at Old Trafford in the Premier League. On 16 July 2020, Van Aanholt suffered a dislocated shoulder while playing in a Premier League match against Manchester United. He received oxygen and was taken off of the pitch on a stretcher. The injury was expected to keep him out of action for up to two months and into the following season.

Galatasaray

On 28 July 2021, Galatasaray announced the signing of Van Aanholt on three-year free transfer deal.

Loan to PSV

On 1 February 2023, Van Aanholt was loaned to

side

PSV Eindhoven Philips Sport Vereniging (; en, Philips Sports Association ), abbreviated as PSV and internationally known as PSV Eindhoven (), is a Dutch sports club from Eindhoven, Netherlands. It is best known for its professional football department, w ...

until the end of the season.

International career

On 19 November 2013, Van Aanholt won his first senior cap 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 ...

in a friendly match against Colombia, coming on in injury time for

Memphis Depay Memphis Depay (; born 13 February 1994), also known simply as Memphis, is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club Barcelona and the Netherlands national team. Memphis began his professional career with PSV Ein ...

in a 0–0 draw at the

Amsterdam Arena The Johan Cruyff Arena ( nl, Johan Cruijff Arena ; officially stylised as Johan Cruijff ArenA) is the main stadium of the Dutch capital city of Amsterdam and the home stadium of football club AFC Ajax since its opening. Built from 1993 to 1996 ...

. In September 2017, Van Aanholt was called up to the Curaçao national football team for a friendly against

Qatar 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 ...

, but he did not make an appearance. As all his international appearances for the Netherlands had been in friendly matches, he was still eligible to represent Curaçao. He was included in

Ronald Koeman Ronald Koeman (; born 21 March 1963) is a Dutch professional football manager and former player. He is the younger brother of his former international teammate Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman. Koeman was cap ...

's first starting line up when the

took on

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 ...

on 23 March 2018 in a friendly international.

Career statistics

Club

International

References

External links

*
Patrick van Aanholt
at ''

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and Profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM but le ...

'' * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:van Aanholt, Patrick 1990 births Living people Sportspeople from 's-Hertogenbosch Footballers from North Brabant Dutch footballers Netherlands youth international footballers Netherlands under-21 international footballers Netherlands international footballers Association football fullbacks Chelsea F.C. players Coventry City F.C. players Newcastle United F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Wigan Athletic F.C. players SBV Vitesse players Sunderland A.F.C. players Crystal Palace F.C. players Galatasaray S.K. footballers PSV Eindhoven players Premier League players English Football League players Eredivisie players Süper Lig players UEFA Euro 2020 players Dutch expatriate footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Expatriate footballers in England Expatriate footballers in Turkey Dutch people of Curaçao descent