Patrick Kluivert

Patrick Kluivert is a retired footballer from the Netherlands, born in 1976. When he was seven years old he joined Ajax football academy. After graduation he was promoted to the senior squad and made his debut on 21 August 1994. In 1995 he netted the winning goal in the UEFA Champions League final against A.C. Milan. Kluivert spent three seasons at Ajax during which he made 70 appearances and scored 39 goals. He had a short period at Milan and the switched to Spanish powerhouse Barcelona in 1998. There he played until 2004 and made 182 league appearances and scored 90 goals. They won the 1998/99 La Liga title.

The 2004/05 season Kluivert spent at Newcastle United, but that spell wasn’t a success and he left for Valencia. There he didn’t play a lot because of an injury and in 2006 he returned to the Netherlands, where he signed for PSV and spent a year. In July 2007 Kluivert moved to Lille and after a season there he retired.

He was called up to play for the Dutch national U15, U16 and U17 teams and between 1994 and 2004 he made 79 appearances for the senior squad and scored 40 goals. In Euro 2000 he was named the top scorer sharing the honor with Savo Milošević.

Kluivert went in for coaching, attended coaching courses and began to work at AZ with the strikers. In 2012 he joined the coaching staff of the Netherlands national team.