Dutch footballer (born 1994)
Jetro Danovich Sexer Willems
(born 30 March 1994) is a Dutch professional
footballer
who plays as a
left wing-back
or
left-back
for
Eredivisie
club
Heracles Almelo
.
Willems represented the
Netherlands national team
at
UEFA Euro 2012
; he played in the Netherlands' opening match of the tournament at the age of 18 years and 71 days, making him the youngest player ever to play in the
UEFA European Championship
at the time. The record has since been broken by
Jude Bellingham
, who represented
England
at
UEFA Euro 2020
.
Club career
[
edit
]
Sparta Rotterdam
[
edit
]
Willems began his career with amateur side Spartaan '20 from whom he joined
Sparta Rotterdam
. During his time with Sparta he progressed through the club's youth academy and made his senior debut on 16 January 2011, in a match against
Go Ahead Eagles
.
[5]
He made 16 appearances in the
Dutch second division
.
[6]
On 31 August 2011, Willems joined
PSV Eindhoven
on a three-year contract.
[7]
He received the number 43 jersey and made his PSV debut on 23 October in a match against
Vitesse
.
[8]
Willems became the youngest Dutchman to play in a
UEFA
competition when he started against
Hapoel Tel Aviv
on 3 November in a
UEFA Europa League
group stage
match.
[9]
That same month, he was permanently promoted to the first team squad.
[10]
In December, Willems was targeted for a move to
Manchester United
, with then United manager
Sir Alex Ferguson
looking for "the next
Patrice Evra
".
[11]
On 3 April 2012, Willems' contract was upgraded and extended until 2016.
[12]
Willems scored his first professional ? and PSV ? goal on 22 April 2012 in a match against
NEC
.
[13]
With this goal, he became the youngest goalscorer in the
2011?12 Eredivisie
. He experienced a great amount of playing time in the 2011?12 season because full-back
Erik Pieters
was injured. Although being young and quite inexperienced, Willems quickly showed evidence of his raw talent, especially his technique and attacking traits.
On 15 July 2015, Willems suffered a serious injury and missed the first half of the
2015?16 season
.
Eintracht Frankfurt
[
edit
]
On 17 July 2017, Willems joined
Bundesliga
club
Eintracht Frankfurt
to replace
Bastian Oczipka
, who, in turn joined
Schalke 04
. The transfer fee paid to PSV was reported as between €5 million and €9 million, depending on the source.
[14]
[15]
[16]
Willems made 29 appearances during the
2017?18 season
,
[17]
which included the surprise win over
Bayern Munich
in the
German Cup final
.
[18]
Willems started the
2018?19 season
by starting in the
German Super Cup
.
[19]
2019?20 season: Loan to Newcastle United
[
edit
]
On 2 August 2019, Willems joined
Newcastle United
of the
Premier League
on a season-long loan deal with an option to buy.
[20]
Willems scored his first goal for Newcastle and in the
Premier League
on 14 September, putting the Magpies into a shock lead at reigning
UEFA Champions League
winners
Liverpool
, but the side eventually fell to a 1?3 defeat.
[21]
Willems then scored in a 2?2 draw with reigning
league
champions
Manchester City
on 30 November.
[22]
He was ever-present in the Newcastle side during the first half of the season and made 20 appearances for the Magpies, until he suffered a season ending injury when he tore his ACL in January 2020.
[23]
He left the club when his loan expired on 1 July 2020.
[24]
Consequently, Willems returned to Frankfurt for the
2020-21 Bundesliga
season. During the first half of the season, he continued his recovery from his knee injury. After almost a year of rehabilitation, Willems re-joined the group training of Eintracht Frankfurt at the beginning of 2021, but did not make any appearances for the rest of the season.
[
citation needed
]
Willems left Eintracht Frankfurt after his contract expired at the end of the season. In total, he made 65 appearances for the club.
Greuther Furth
[
edit
]
In August 2021, Willems signed a two-year contract with newly promoted Bundesliga side
Greuther Furth
and has been given the number 15 jersey.
[25]
He left the club on 1 September 2022, after his contract was terminated.
[26]
Groningen
[
edit
]
On 23 February 2023, Willems joined
Eredivisie
club
Groningen
on a contract until the end of the season.
[27]
Heracles Almelo
[
edit
]
On 14 June 2023, Willems signed a one-year contract with
Heracles Almelo
, with an option for the second year.
[28]
International career
[
edit
]
In 2011, Willems won the
2011 UEFA European Under-17 Championship
with the
Netherlands under-17 team
.
[29]
While being selected for the
under-19
squad, on 7 May 2012 Willems was named in the provisional list of 36 players for
UEFA Euro 2012
, one of nine uncapped players to be chosen by
senior team
manager
Bert van Marwijk
as part of the preliminary squad. He was still in the
Oranje
squad for Euro 2012 after Van Marwijk had made a first cut to 27 players on 15 May 2012.
[30]
Willems also made the final cut into the 23-man squad, being given the number 15 shirt.
[31]
He made his first unofficial appearance for the senior national team on 22 May 2012 in a friendly match against
Bayern Munich
.
On 26 May 2012, Willems made his first appearance with the senior Dutch side in a match against
Bulgaria
.
[32]
At the Euro 2012, Willems made his first start for the Netherlands, against
Denmark
, becoming the youngest ever player to play at the Euros and the fourth-youngest player to play for the Netherlands, at 18 years and 71 days of age.
[33]
The record was previously held by Belgian
Enzo Scifo
, at 18 years and 115 days.
[34]
He featured in all the group stage games, however the Netherlands were eliminated from the tournament after losing all three group stage matches.
[35]
Career statistics
[
edit
]
Club
[
edit
]
- As of match played on 14 June 2020
International
[
edit
]
- As of 10 October 2016
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team
|
Year
|
Apps
|
Goals
|
Netherlands
|
2012
|
8
|
0
|
2013
|
3
|
0
|
2014
|
2
|
0
|
2015
|
3
|
0
|
2016
|
6
|
0
|
Total
|
22
|
0
|
Honours
[
edit
]
PSV
[36]
Eintracht Frankfurt
Netherlands U17
References
[
edit
]
- ^
"2019/20 Premier League squads confirmed"
. Premier League. 3 September 2019
. Retrieved
3 September
2019
.
- ^
"Netherlands ? J. Willems ? Profile with news, career statistics and history ? Soccerway"
.
us.soccerway.com
.
- ^
"Jetro " Di velt pa SDKK" Documentary"
– via YouTube.
- ^
"Jetro Willems: Overview"
. Premier League
. Retrieved
2 January
2020
.
- ^
Sparta Rotterdam ? Go Ahead Eagles (16-01-2011)
;
Voetbal International
, 16 January 2011
(in Dutch)
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
g
h
i
"Jetro Willems ≫ Club matches"
. World Football
. Retrieved
21 September
2018
.
- ^
Jeugdinternational Jetro Willems naar PSV (Youth International Jetro Willems on PSV)
Archived
7 June 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
;
PSV Eindhoven
, 31 August 2011
(in Dutch)
- ^
Vitesse ? PSV (23-10-2011)
;
Voetbal International
, 23 October 2011
(in Dutch)
- ^
PSV fight back to progress against Hapoel Tel-Aviv
;
UEFA
, 3 November 2011
- ^
Willems definitief naar eerste selectie PSV (Willems' definitely on PSV's first team)
;
ED
, 29 November 2011
(in Dutch)
- ^
- ^
Contract Jetro Willems opengebroken en verlengd (Jetro Willems' contract broken and extended)
Archived
6 June 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
;
PSV Eindhoven
, 3 April 2012
(in Dutch)
- ^
PSV ? NEC (22-04-2012)
;
Voetbal International
, 22 April 2012
(in Dutch)
- ^
"PSV defender Willems joins Frankfurt"
.
Special Broadcasting Service
. 22 July 2017
. Retrieved
22 July
2017
.
- ^
"Fix: Rekordhalter Willems beerbt Oczipka in Frankfurt"
.
kicker Online
(in German). 21 July 2017
. Retrieved
22 July
2017
.
- ^
"Frankfurt holt Niederlander Willems als Oczipka-Ersatz"
(in German).
RP Online
. 17 July 2017.
- ^
a
b
"Jetro Willems"
.
kicker.de
(in German). kicker
. Retrieved
21 September
2018
.
- ^
"Rebic und Gacinovic schießen Frankfurt zum Pokalsieg"
.
kicker.de
(in German). kicker. 19 May 2018
. Retrieved
21 September
2018
.
- ^
a
b
"FCB gewinnt Supercup ? Lewandowski macht den Unterschied"
.
kicker.de
(in German). kicker. 12 August 2018
. Retrieved
21 September
2018
.
- ^
"Jetro Willems' first day in pictures"
. NUFC
. Retrieved
2 August
2019
.
- ^
"Premier League leaders Liverpool shrugged off an early scare to sweep past Newcastle and maintain their 100% start to the season with another dominant attacking display"
. BBC Sport. 14 September 2019
. Retrieved
2 July
2020
.
- ^
"Manchester City's hopes of retaining their Premier League title were dealt another blow when Jonjo Shelvey's stunning late equaliser earned Newcastle a point at St James' Park"
. BBC Sport. 30 November 2019
. Retrieved
2 July
2020
.
- ^
"Bruce confirms Willems and Dummett set to miss rest of the season"
.
nufc.co.uk
. 20 January 2020
. Retrieved
25 December
2021
.
- ^
"Jetro Willems says Newcastle will hold a 'special place' in his heart as his loan deal comes to end"
.
Chronicle Live
. 30 June 2020
. Retrieved
2 July
2020
.
- ^
"Die SpVgg Greuther Furth verpflichtet Jetro Willems"
.
bundesliga.com
(in German). 25 August 2021
. Retrieved
25 December
2021
.
- ^
"Willems gratis op te pikken: Greuther Furth verscheurt contract"
(in Dutch). 1 September 2022
. Retrieved
11 December
2022
.
- ^
"FC GRONINGEN CONTRACTEERT WILLEMS"
[FC GRONINGEN SIGNS WILLEMS.].
fcgroningen.nl
(in Dutch). 23 February 2023
. Retrieved
23 February
2023
.
- ^
"HERACLES ALMELO TREKT JETRO WILLEMS AAN"
(in Dutch). Heracles Almelo. 14 June 2023.
- ^
UEFA European Under-17 Championship 2011
,
UEFA.com
, Retrieved 1. 9. 2014
- ^
"UEFA EURO 2016 ? News ? UEFA.com"
. UEFA. 15 May 2012.
- ^
Bouma and Willems make final Dutch squad
;
UEFA
, 26 May 2012
- ^
Oranje met Van Persie en ook Huntelaar tegen Bulgarije (Oranje with Van Persie and Huntelaar against Bulgaria)
;
Voetbal International
, 26 May 2012
(in Dutch)
- ^
Jetro Willems sets age mark
Archived
13 June 2012 at the
Wayback Machine
;
ESPN
- ^
Teenager Willems breaks Scifo's record
;
UEFA
, 9 June 2012
- ^
"Portugal 2?1 Netherlands"
BBC Sport. 17 June 2012. Retrieved 17 June 2012.
- ^
"Jetro Willems joins Eintracht Frankfurt"
. PSV. 21 July 2017
. Retrieved
2 August
2019
.
- ^
"Bayern Munich 1-3 Eintracht Frankfurt"
. Whoscored.com
. Retrieved
20 May
2018
.
External links
[
edit
]