Royston Drenthe

Royston Ricky Drenthe (born 8 April 1987) is a Dutch former professional footballer. Although primarily a left winger, he has also played as a left-back.

Drenthe started his professional career with Eredivisie side Feyenoord in 2005, having graduated from the club's youth academy. He made 37 appearances for the side before switching to La Liga club Real Madrid in 2007. During his five years in Madrid, he made 65 appearances for the club, spending time on loan at Hércules and Premier League side Everton, making 19 and 27 appearances for those clubs respectively. He then joined Russian Premier League side Alania Vladikavkaz in February 2013 on a free transfer, making six appearances in a brief spell at the club, before he joined Reading in June 2013. In January 2015, he joined Kayseri Erciyessor, before moving to UAE Pro League side Baniyas Club in September 2015. After being released by Baniyas in July 2016, Drenthe announced his retirement from playing. He has since begun recording music under the name Roya2Faces. After two years, Drenthe came out of retirement to play for Sparta Rotterdam in 2018.

Drenthe made 17 appearances for the Netherlands under-21s between 2006 and 2008, and was a member of the team that won the 2007 European Championship. He later made one appearance for the Netherlands B team and also featured once for the full national team.

Club career

Youth

Born in Rotterdam, Drenthe, who is of Surinamese descent, joined local side Feyenoord's youth system at the age of 13, playing mainly as a winger during his junior years. After disciplinary issues during a trip to Switzerland with the B-side, coach Marcel Bout wanted him to leave the club, but the issues were resolved after the intervention of Rob Baan, the club's director of football.