Denzel

Dumfries



27

Age

1.88 M

Height

2

Squad number

MIDMidfielder
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MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 27:  Denzel Dumfries of FC Internazionale in action during the Serie A TIM match between FC Internazionale and US Sassuolo at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 27, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot - Inter/Inter via Getty Images)

Team

Oct 16th 2023

Dumfries in campo con l’Olanda


Career Story

Denzel Dumfries was so sure he wrote it on his bedroom wall: “One day, I’ll play for the national team.” Denzel was a lively kid – one of those who never seemed to stop moving, and who always had a ball at his feet. Perhaps understandably, nobody took much notice of Denzel’s bedroom wall scrawl – it was every kid’s dream, after all. But Denzel had other ideas. As he grew up, navigating the highs and lows of those first steps in the game, he kept those dreams close.

Up until the age of 17, Denzel played for amateur side Barendrecht in the suburbs of Rotterdam, the city where he was born in 1996. One day, the phone rang: “Denzel, will you come and play for the national team?” The man on the other end was Giovanni Franken, the head coach not of the Netherlands, whose orange jersey Denzel had long dreamed of pulling on, but of Aruba, a 180 km² island in the Caribbean. Denzel’s father, Boris, had been born on Aruba, which belongs to the Kingdom of the Netherlands. The young Denzel accepted the call – but on one condition. He would only ever be involved in friendlies for Aruba, ensuring his chances of – one day – representing Holland would not be affected.

Few players can say that their careers really took off thanks to a match between Aruba and Guam. But that was the case for Denzel, whose wonderful long-range goal against the Micronesian island seemed to turbocharge his rise through the game back in the Netherlands.

It came as no surprise to his mother, Marleen, originally from Suriname: Denzel’s determination and doggedness had been clear since he’d been a child, when he’d ask to cut his holidays short so he could get back to training, jumping on his bike and disappearing off to the ground at the earliest opportunity.

Denzel got his first big break at Sparta Rotterdam, where he made his professional debut in February 2015. Sparta won promotion to the Eredivisie the following season, with Denzel being named “Talent of the Year” for the Dutch second tier. Those lung-bursting runs up and down the right flank were already a feature of his game, fuelled by his desire to improve with every match. A move to Heerenveen followed in 2017, before PSV came calling the year after that.

Denzel continued to go from strength to strength at PSV, where he spent time working with the legendary Edgar Davids and a personal coach to boost his development.

And finally, in 2018, that long-awaited national team call-up materialised. Denzel’s childhood dream was realised on 13 October 2018, when he made his Netherlands debut in a Nations League match against Germany. So far, he has made 45 appearances for the Netherlands, scoring 6 goals.

Dumfries and Inter have already crossed paths before, in the 2018/19 Champions League. But now he returns as an Inter player, the 11th Dutchman to don the black and blue in the club’s history. In two seasons, he has collected 96 appearances and scored seven times.

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MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 27:  Denzel Dumfries of FC Internazionale in action during the Serie A TIM match between FC Internazionale and US Sassuolo at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 27, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Mattia Ozbot - Inter/Inter via Getty Images)
MILAN, ITALY - SEPTEMBER 03:  Denzel Dumfries of FC Internazionale in action during the Serie A TIM match between FC Internazionale and ACF Fiorentina at Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on September 03, 2023 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Mattia Pistoia - Inter/Inter via Getty Images)

Career Path

2021 - now

Inter

FC Internazionale Milano

125 appearances

3 seasons played

10 goals scored

2X Coppa Italia

3X Super Cup

2018 - now

NED

Netherlands

52 appearances

6 seasons played

6 goals scored

 

 

2018 - 2021

PSV

PSV Eindhoven

124 appearances

3 seasons played

16 goals scored

1X Super Cup

 

2017 - 2018

NED

Netherlands Under 21

8 appearances

1 season played

0 goals scored

 

 

2017 - 2018

HEE

SC Heerenveen

37 appearances

1 season played

4 goals scored

 

 

2014 - 2017

SPA

Sparta Rotterdam

72 appearances

3 seasons played

2 goals scored

1X Eerste Divisie

 

2014 - 2015

ABW

Aruba

2 appearances

1 season played

1 goal scored

 

 

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DEF

6

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