Brian Ebenezer Adjei Brobbey (born 1 February 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Netherlands national team.
.jpg) Brobbey playing for Ajax in 2023 | |||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Brian Ebenezer Adjei Brobbey | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 1 February 2002 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Amsterdam, Netherlands | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position(s) | Striker | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Ajax | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 9 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| –2010 | AFC | ||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2018 | Ajax | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2018–2021 | Jong Ajax | 32 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2020–2021 | Ajax | 12 | (3) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021–2022 | RB Leipzig | 9 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022 | → Ajax (loan) | 11 | (7) | ||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Ajax | 62 | (31) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Netherlands U15 | 6 | (4) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017 | Netherlands U16 | 5 | (5) | ||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Netherlands U17 | 24 | (16) | ||||||||||||||
| 2019 | Netherlands U19 | 2 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
| 2021– | Netherlands U21 | 17 | (9) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Netherlands | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| *Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20 May 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 June 2024 | |||||||||||||||||
Club career
Early career
Brobbey began his youth career with AFC before joining the Ajax academy in 2010.[2][3]
Ajax
Brobbey made his Ajax debut in the Eredivisie on 31 October 2020, coming on as a substitute and scoring in a 5–2 victory over Fortuna Sittard.[4] He made his European debut in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League against Atalanta on 9 December 2020 and his performance was praised by coach Erik ten Hag.[5]
On 3 February 2021, Ajax director of football Marc Overmars, confirmed that Brobbey would leave the club at the expiry of his contract at the end of the season.[6] Brobbey scored his first goal in a European competition on 18 February, netting Ajax's second goal in their Europa League round of 32 first leg away win over Lille.[7]
RB Leipzig
On 12 March 2021, RB Leipzig announced the signing of Brobbey.[8] He joined them on 1 July 2021.[8]
Return to Ajax on loan
On 27 December 2021, it was announced that Brobbey would return to Ajax on a six-month loan spell without an option to buy.[9] He was assigned shirt number 18, previously worn that season by Jurgen Ekkelenkamp.[10] He made his first appearance on 16 January 2022 in an away match against FC Utrecht as the starting striker, securing two goals before being substituted-off in the 70th minute for Davy Klaassen in a 3–0 victory.[11]
Return to Ajax
On 22 July 2022, Ajax confirmed the re-signing of Brian Brobbey on a five-year contract for a fee of €16.35 million plus €3 million in potential add ons.[12] He made his competitive return debut on the first matchday of the 2022–23 season, also scoring his first return goal for Ajax in a 3–2 away win over Fortuna Sittard on 6 August.[13] On 16 and 22 October 2022, Brobbey scored back-to-back braces, leading his team to a 7–1 victory over Excelsior and a 4–1 win over RKC Waalwijk, respectively.[14][15] Brobbey scored 14 goals in 44 appearances in all competitions during the season, as he was in and out of the starting lineup under first head coach Alfred Schreuder, and since interim coach John Heitinga.[16][17]
In the following season, Brobbey began as a starter in attack under newly appointed manager Maurice Steijn.[18]
International career
Born in the Netherlands, Brobbey is of Ghanaian descent.[19] Brobbey represented the Netherlands U17 at both the 2018 and 2019 editions of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship, winning both competitions respectively.[20][21]
In October 2022, Brobbey was included in the preliminary squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.[22]
In October 2023, he received his first official call-up to the Netherlands senior national team for two UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers against France and Greece.[23]
On 29 May 2024, Brobbey was named in the Netherlands' squad for UEFA Euro 2024.[24]
Personal life
He is a younger brother of fellow football players Samuel Brobbey, Derrick Luckassen and Kevin Luckassen.[25]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 19 May 2024[26]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Jong Ajax | 2018–19 | Eerste Divisie | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| 2019–20 | 13 | 7 | — | — | — | 13 | 7 | |||||
| 2020–21 | 17 | 9 | — | — | — | 17 | 9 | |||||
| Total | 32 | 16 | — | — | — | 32 | 16 | |||||
| Ajax | 2020–21 | Eredivisie | 12 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 7[b] | 3 | — | 19 | 6 | |
| RB Leipzig | 2021–22 | Bundesliga | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |
| Ajax (loan) | 2021–22 | Eredivisie | 11 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 13 | 7 | |
| Ajax | 2022–23 | 32 | 13 | 4 | 1 | 7[d] | 0 | 1[e] | 0 | 44 | 14 | |
| 2023–24 | 30 | 18 | 1 | 1 | 12[f] | 3 | — | 43 | 22 | |||
| Total | 62 | 31 | 5 | 2 | 19 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 87 | 36 | ||
| Career total | 126 | 56 | 7 | 2 | 31 | 6 | 1 | 0 | 165 | 64 | ||
International
- As of match played 6 June 2024[27]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Netherlands | 2023 | 1 | 0 |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 2 | 0 | |
Honours
Ajax
Netherlands U17
Individual
- Eredivisie Player of the Month: December 2023,[29] January 2024[30]
- Eredivisie Talent of the Month: May 2022,[31] August 2022,[32] October 2022[33]
- Eredivisie Team of the Month: May 2022,[34] August 2022,[35] October 2022,[36] December 2023,[37] January 2024[38]
- Ajax Player of the Year (Rinus Michels Award): 2023–24[39]
References
External links
- Profile at the AFC Ajax website
- Profile at the Royal Dutch Football Association website (in Dutch)
- Brian Brobbey – UEFA competition record (archive)
