Daley Sinkgraven

Daley Sinkgraven

Sinkgraven with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Date of birth	(1995-07-04) 4 July 1995 (age 29)
Place of birth	Assen, Netherlands
Height	1.79 m (5 ft 10 in) [1]
Position(s)	Left-back, Midfielder
Team information
Current team	Fortuna Sittard
Youth career
2002–2008	MVV Alcides
2008–2013	Heerenveen
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2015	Heerenveen	35	(4)
2015–2019	Ajax	63	(1)
2015–2019	Jong Ajax	9	(1)
2019–2023	Bayer Leverkusen	59	(0)
2023–2025	Las Palmas	12	(0)
2025–	Fortuna Sittard	0	(0)
International career
2012	Netherlands U17	3	(0)
2012	Netherlands U18	2	(0)
2014	Netherlands U19	1	(0)
2014–2015	Netherlands U21	5	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 2 January 2025

Daley Sinkgraven (born 4 July 1995) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Eredivisie club Fortuna Sittard.

Club career

Heerenveen

Sinkgraven started playing football with MVV Alcides from his hometown Meppel. He ended up in the youth academy of SC Heerenveen. Sinkgraven had a breakthrough season in 2013–14 playing 17 games while starting five of them. He made his debut in the 2–2 draw against Roda JC Kerkrade on 18 January 2014 by replacing Hakim Ziyech. On 28 March 2014, he extended his contract until the summer of 2017. ^[2] On 22 November 2014, he scored an own goal in a 4–1 away loss to Ajax. ^[3] Sinkgraven's great performances for Heerenveen caught the eye of many giant English clubs. Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester United were all very interested in buying the teenage Sinkgraven. ^{[4] [5]}

Ajax

Sinkgraven playing for Ajax in 2015

On 30 January 2015, after excellent performances for SC Heerenveen, it was announced that Sinkgraven had joined Ajax for a fee of €7 million at the tender age of 19 years old, making him the club's most expensive acquisition since Miralem Sulejmani, who had also made the transfer to Ajax from Heerenveen. ^[6] He signed a five-and-a-half-year contract with the club and was given the number 8 shirt previously worn by Lerin Duarte, who was sent on a six-month loan spell to Heerenveen in return. ^[7] He made his debut for the first team of Ajax in the starting lineup on 5 February 2015 in a 1–0 home loss to AZ. ^[8]

Sinkgraven helped guide Ajax to the final of the 2016–17 Europa League where they lost to Manchester United. Sinkgraven was also a part of the Ajax team that won the Dutch Eredivisie title and the Dutch KNVB Cup during the 2018–19 season. In that same season, Sinkgraven also helped Ajax reach the semi-finals of the Champions League where they lost to Tottenham, after knocking out Real Madrid and Juventus in the previous rounds. Sinkgraven was hampered by injuries for a lot of the time, while at Ajax. In his four and a half years at Ajax, he missed 101 games through injury and he was out injured for a total of 738 days.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 17 June 2019, Sinkgraven signed for Bayer Leverkusen on a four-year contract, to rejoin his former Ajax coach Peter Bosz. ^{[9] [10]} On 22 May 2023, Leverkusen announced that it would not be renewing Sinkgraven's contract, making the player a free agent at the end of the season. ^[11]

Las Palmas

On 11 July 2023, recently-promoted La Liga side UD Las Palmas announced the signing of Sinkgraven on a two-year contract. ^[12] On 2 February 2025, after being rarely used, he terminated his link with the club. ^[13]

Fortuna Sittard

On 3 February 2025, Sinkgraven returned to the Netherlands and signed a one-and-a-half-year contract with Fortuna Sittard. ^[14]

International career

Sinkgraven has been capped at various youth levels, notably representing the Dutch U21, U19 teams. He has received call-ups for the senior national team but has not been capped as of July 2021.

Personal life

Sinkgraven is the son of Dutch football coach Harry Sinkgraven. ^[15]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 April 2023. ^{[16] [17]}

Club	Season	League			Cup		Continental [a]		Other [b]		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Heerenveen	2013–14	Eredivisie	15	0	0	0	—		2	0	17	0
	2014–15		20	4	1	0	—		—		21	4
	Total		35	4	1	0	0	0	2	0	38	4
Ajax	2014–15	Eredivisie	10	0	0	0	4	0	—		14	0
	2015–16		16	0	2	0	6	0	—		24	0
	2016–17		24	1	1	0	7	0	—		32	1
	2017–18		4	0	1	0	0	0	—		5	0
	2018–19		9	0	0	0	2	0	—		11	0
	Total		63	1	4	0	19	0	0	0	86	1
Jong Ajax	2015–16	Eerste Divisie	5	1	—		—		—		5	1
	2017–18		4	0	—		—		—		4	0
	Total		9	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	9	1
Bayer Leverkusen	2019–20	Bundesliga	13	0	2	0	6	0	—		21	0
	2020–21		22	0	1	0	4	0	—		27	0
	2021–22		12	0	2	0	4	0	—		18	0
	2022–23		12	0	0	0	0	0	—		12	0
	Total		59	0	5	0	14	0	0	0	78	0
Career total			166	6	10	0	33	0	2	0	211	6

1. Includes UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League matches
2. Includes Johan Cruyff Shield and Eredivisie play-off matches

Honours

Club

Ajax ^[18]

• Eredivisie: 2018–19
• KNVB Cup: 2018–19
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2016–17 ^[19]

References

1. "Daley Sinkgraven | Spielerprofil". kicker (in German). Retrieved 9 January 2023.
2. "Contract Sinkgraven verlengd tot 2017" (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 28 March 2014.
3. "Eerste 'Ajax-goal' Sinkgraven al een feit" (in Dutch). Ajax Showtime. 31 January 2015. Archived from the original on 11 February 2015. Retrieved 11 February 2015.
4. "De Boer confirms Ajax interest in Sinkgraven". football-oranje.com. Football Oranje. 4 December 2014. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
5. "Chelsea scout admits Sinkgraven is a target". football-oranje.com. Football Oranje. 18 January 2015. Retrieved 5 May 2020.
6. "Ajax heeft Sinkgraven binnen en laat Duarte vertrekken" (in Dutch). Voetbalzone.nl. 31 January 2015.
7. "Ajax haalt Sinkgraven weg uit Heerenveen" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. 30 January 2015.
8. "Na debuut gaat Sinkgraven liedje Guus Meeuwis zingen" (in Dutch). AD.nl. 5 February 2015.
9. "Leverkusen sign Ajax ace Sinkgraven". France24. 17 June 2019.
10. Nicholas McGee (17 June 2019). "Sinkgraven signs on at Leverkusen". Sport Star.
11. "Bayer confirm three more departures". Bulinews. 22 May 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
12. "Daley Sinkgraven nuevo jugador de la UD Las Palmas" [Daley Sinkgraven new player of UD Las Palmas]. www.udlaspalmas.es (in Spanish). 11 July 2023. Retrieved 11 July 2023.
13. "La UD Las Palmas rescinde anticipadamente el contrato de Daley Sinkgraven" [UD Las Palmas rescind Daley Sinkgraven's contract early] (in Spanish). UD Las Palmas. 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
14. "Fortuna haalt Sinkgraven terug naar Nederland" [Fortuna brings Sinkgraven back to the Netherlands] (in Dutch). Fortuna Sittard. 3 February 2025. Retrieved 3 February 2025.
15. Peter McVitie (4 February 2015). "On the road to Barcelona - Sinkgraven's Ajax move first step in a great career". Goal.com. Retrieved 24 February 2015.
16. "Daley Sinkgraven » Club matches". WorldFootball.net. Retrieved 28 October 2017.
17. "Daley Sinkgraven profile". Soccerway.
18. "Daley Sinkgraven - Career Honours". Soccerway.
19. "2016/17: United win it for Manchester". UEFA. 30 May 2017.

External links

• Voetbal International profile (in Dutch)
• Daley Sinkgraven at Soccerway
• Netherlands U17 profile Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at OnsOranje
• Netherlands U18 profile Archived 24 September 2015 at the Wayback Machine at OnsOranje
• Netherlands U19 profile Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at OnsOranje
• Netherlands U21 profile Archived 4 March 2016 at the Wayback Machine at OnsOranje