Steven Berghuis (born 19 December 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Eredivisie club Ajax and the Netherlands national team. He can play as either a winger or an attacking midfielder.
Berghuis made his debut for the Netherlands in 2016, and represented the national team at UEFA Euro 2020 and the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Club career
Youth career
Berghuis came through the youth system at FC Twente, following spells with the youth clubs of local amateur club WSV Apeldoorn, then Eerste Divisie side Go Ahead Eagles. As a 16-year-old, he scored WSV's only goal in a 4–1 friendly match defeat to Feyenoord.
Twente
One year later, Berghuis joined Twente, and in June 2010, he signed a professional contract lasting until 2012. In January 2011, Berghuis was called-up to the first team by manager Michel Preud'homme at the training camp in La Manga. He then made his first team debut for Twente on 19 January 2011 as a substitute in a 5–0 Eredivisie win over Heracles.
On 23 June 2011, Berghuis scored his first goal for the club in a pre-season friendly against Eerste Klasse D team DOS '37. One week later, he scored one of Twente's ten goals in another warm-up fixture against Derde Klasse side DSV '61. On 14 July 2011, he scored his first goal against foreign opposition, scoring Twente's second in a 4–3 friendly win over Turkish Süper Lig side Fenerbahçe.
After being promoted to the first team for the 2011–12 season, Berghuis signed a contract extension with Twente lasting until 2014. He then played in Twente's 2011–12 UEFA Champions League qualifying legs against Romanian club Vaslui on 26 July and 3 August 2011, during which Twente won 2–0 on aggregate. He also played in the 2011 Johan Cruyff Shield; despite being sent-off, Twente won the match 2–1 against Ajax. He started the club's first Eredivisie match of the 2011–12 season, against NAC Breda. On 21 September 2011, he then scored four goals against Zwaluwen '30 in the KNVB Cup, where Twente won 8–1. Berghuis scored his first Twente goal in a 6–2 win over Utrecht on 4 December 2011.
On 20 January 2012, Berghuis joined VVV-Venlo on loan until the end of the 2011–12 season. Two days later, he made his VVV-Venlo debut, starting and playing the full match in a 2–1 win over Feyenoord. On 18 February, he scored his first goal for VVV-Venlo, in a 4–1 win over De Graafschap. In the last match of the season, Berghuis scored his second goal—as well as setting up another—in a 4–2 win over parent club Twente. On 13 May, he scored twice in the second legs of the play-offs in a 4–2 victory over Cambuur. By the end of the 2011–12 season, in all competitions, he had made 21 appearances and scored 4 goals.
AZ
On 20 June 2012, Berghuis joined AZ for a reported £400,000 transfer fee from Twente, after which he signed a contract keeping him at AZ until 2017. Upon joining the club, Berghuis said he expected to develop more as a player at AZ. He made his AZ debut playing 16 minutes after coming on as a substitute in a 1–0 loss against Anzhi Makhachkala in the qualification round first leg of the 2012–13 UEFA Europa League on 23 August. One week later, on 2 September, he made his Eredivisie debut for the club, playing 13 minutes in a 5–1 loss against PSV.
Berghuis played the season predominantly as a left winger and as a substitute, only completing 90 minutes on four occasions, contributing only one assist in the league due to the form of Icelandic player Jóhann Berg Guðmundsson, who scored two and assisted six goals in the season at left wing. In his first season, Berghuis made 27 appearances in all competitions and helped the side win the KNVB Cup over PSV in the tournament final.
The 2013–14 season could be considered Berghuis' breakthrough season as he featured more in the starting 11, although he still had to compete with Gudmundsson. He scored his first AZ goal in a 3–0 win over Go Ahead Eagles on 15 September 2013, then scored again on 1 December in a 3–2 loss against NEC. In the KNVB Cup, Berghuis played a role in the first two rounds, scoring in a 4–1 win over Sparta Rotterdam, followed-up by three assists in a 7–0 win over Achilles '29 in the third round. In the second half of the season, Berghuis recorded two two-goal games, against NAC Breda on 18 January 2014 and RKC Waalwijk on 2 March. Berghuis later added a goal—as well as setting-up another—in a 3–0 win over Heerenveen in the 2013–14 UEFA Europa League play-off competition as part of the Eredivisie format for European competition qualification. Despite suffering from an injury in January 2014, Berghuis finished the 2013–14 season with 41 appearances and 10 goals in all competitions.