Sean Klaiber
Klaiber with Utrecht in 2017
Personal information
Full name Sean Desmond Klaiber[1]
Date of birth (1994-07-31) 31 July 1994 (age 29)
Place of birth Nieuwegein, Netherlands
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position(s) Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Brøndby
Number 31
Youth career
VVIJ
2005–2006 Ajax
JSV Nieuwegein
SV Geinoord
2007–2013 Utrecht
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2013–2020 Utrecht 122 (8)
2015 → Dordrecht (loan) 12 (2)
2016–2017 Jong Utrecht 7 (0)
2020–2022 Ajax 15 (0)
2022–2023 Utrecht 30 (1)
2023– Brøndby 10 (2)
International career‡
2013 Netherlands U20 1 (0)
2015 Netherlands U21 4 (0)
2021 Suriname 3 (0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 13 December 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 July 2021

Sean Desmond Klaiber (born 31 July 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Danish Superliga club Brøndby. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team. He formerly played for FC Utrecht, FC Dordrecht and Ajax. He is a former Dutch youth international.[2]

Club career

Utrecht

Born in Nieuwegein, Klaiber played in the academies of VVIJ, Ajax, JSV Nieuwegein and SV Geinoord before joining the FC Utrecht youth academy in 2007.[3] On 29 October 2013, Klaiber made his first appearance for the Utrecht first team in an official match. That day, the Domstedelingen played in Werkendam against Kozakken Boys in the KNVB Cup; a match which ended in a 1–2 away win after extra time in which Klaiber made an appearance as a 116th minute substitute for Kai Heerings.[3] He made his debut in the Eredivisie some months later, on 23 February 2014, as a starter in a 1–0 win over FC Groningen.

During the second half of the 2014–15 season, Klaiber was loaned out to FC Dordrecht who also competed in the Eredivisie.[4] He made 12 appearances for the side in which he scored two goals, as they suffered relegation.

In the 2016–17 season, after returning from Dordrecht, Klaiber made seven appearances for the reserves, Jong FC Utrecht. The following season, he grew out to become a regular starter for the first team. He scored his first goal for Utrecht on 20 July 2017 in a UEFA Europa League qualifier against Maltese side Valletta, which ended in a 3–1 win.[3]

Ajax

On 1 October 2020, Klaiber signed a three-year contract with Ajax, with an optional additional year.[5] The move reunited him with his former Utrecht coach Erik ten Hag,[6] as he was set to replace Sergiño Dest at right back, after the latter had joined FC Barcelona some days earlier.[7]

On 18 October, he made his debut for Ajax as a substitute in the home match against sc Heerenveen. His first start for the club came on 24 October in a 0–13 win over VVV Venlo; an Eredivisie record.[8][9] During the season, Klaiber was set to compete with Noussair Mazraoui for the right back position.[10] On 27 October, Klaiber made his debut in the UEFA Champions League as a substitute during the away game against Italian club Atalanta.[11]

Return to Utrecht

On 29 August 2022, Klaiber returned to Utrecht and signed a three-year contract.[12] He made his return debut for the Domstedelingen on 2 September, replacing Hidde ter Avest in the 63rd minute and providing an assist 14 minutes later to Anastasios Douvikas' goal, helping the team to a 4–3 away victory against Fortuna Sittard.[13][14] On 20 October, he scored his first return goal for the club in a KNVB Cup win against Sportlust '46.[15] Three days later, he also scored for Utrecht in the Eredivisie, a deflected shot from distance giving Utrecht the 3–0 lead in an eventual 3–1 victory against Sparta Rotterdam.[16]

Brøndby

On 1 September 2023, Danish Superliga club Brøndby signed Klaiber for a reported fee of €1.1 million, on a two-year contract.[17][18][19] He made his debut for the former Danish champions a few weeks later on 17 September in the 3-0 league win away against Aarhus. Klaiber scored his first and second goal on 26 November in a 3-3 away game against Lyngby.

International career

Born in the Netherlands, Klaiber is of Surinamese descent.[20] Having played for the youth teams of the Netherlands, on 13 June 2021 it was announced that Klaiber had opted to represent Suriname internationally.[21] On 25 June he was called up to represent the team at the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.[22]

On 12 July 2021, Klaiber made his debut in the group stage match against Jamaica. The match ended in a 2–0 loss, in Suriname's Gold Cup debut, which saw Klaiber being cautioned in the 25th minute.[23]

Career statistics

Club

As of matches played 26 November 2023[24]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Utrecht 2013–14 Eredivisie 2 0 1 0 0 0 — 3 0
2014–15 Eredivisie 1 0 0 0 — — 1 0
2015–16 Eredivisie 17 0 2 0 — — 19 0
2016–17 Eredivisie 10 0 1 0 — 4[a] 0 15 0
2017–18 Eredivisie 33 1 1 0 6[b] 1 3[a] 0 43 2
2018–19 Eredivisie 33 2 2 0 — 4[a] 0 39 2
2019–20 Eredivisie 24 4 5 0 2[b] 0 — 31 4
2020–21 Eredivisie 2 1 0 0 — — 2 1
Total 122 8 12 0 8 1 11 0 153 9
Dordrecht (loan) 2014–15 Eredivisie 12 2 — — — 12 2
Jong Utrecht 2016–17 Eerste Divisie 7 0 — — — 7 0
Ajax 2020–21 Eredivisie 15 0 1 0 6[c] 0 — 22 0
Utrecht 2022–23 Eredivisie 28 1 3 1 — 2[a] 0 33 2
2023–24 Eredivisie 2 0 — — — 2 0
Total 30 1 3 1 — 2 0 35 2
Brøndby 2023–24 Danish Superliga 9 2 1 0 — — 10 2
Career total 195 13 17 1 14 1 13 0 239 15
  1. ^ a b c d Appearances in Eredivisie Europa League play-offs
  2. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  3. ^ Three appearances in UEFA Champions League, three appearances in UEFA Europa League

International

As of 21 July 2021[24]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Suriname 2021 3 0
Total 3 0

Honours

Ajax[25]

References

  1. ^ "Sean Desmond Klaiber". Eredivisie.nl (in Dutch). Archived from the original on 14 February 2022. Retrieved 14 February 2022.
  2. ^ Sean Klaiber
  3. ^ a b c "9 Weetjes over 100 keer Sean Klaiber". fcutrecht.nl (in Dutch). FC Utrecht. 26 January 2019. Archived from the original on 4 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  4. ^ "FC Dordrecht haalt bij FC Utrecht derde versterking in januari op". voetbalzone.nl (in Dutch). 6 January 2015. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  5. ^ "Ajax signs Sean Klaiber". ajax.nl. Ajax. 1 October 2020. Archived from the original on 1 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  6. ^ de Bont, Stef (30 September 2020). "Sean Klaiber kiest meer voor Erik ten Hag dan voor Ajax" (in Dutch). Voetbal International. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  7. ^ "Ajax set to sign Sean Klaiber as Sergino Dest's replacement". Marca. 1 October 2020. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  8. ^ "Opstellingen VVV en Ajax: Eerste basisplaats Klaiber, Post terug bij VVV". soccernews.nl (in Dutch). 24 October 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  9. ^ "Ajax hammer VVV-Venlo in Eredivisie record 13-0 win". BBC. 24 October 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  10. ^ "Duidelijke boodschap voor Mazraoui na komst Klaiber". soccernews.nl (in Dutch). 30 September 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  11. ^ "Champions League-debuut voor Sean Klaiber". RTV Utrecht (in Dutch). 28 October 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
  12. ^ "Sean Klaiber keert terug bij FC Utrecht" (in Dutch). Utrecht. 29 August 2022. Retrieved 29 August 2022.
  13. ^ "Fortuna Sittard – FC Utrecht 3:4 (Eredivisie 2022/2023, 5. Round)". WorldFootball.net. HEIM:SPIEL. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  14. ^ Senden, Twan (2 September 2022). "FC Utrecht laat Fortuna in tumultueus duel zonder punten achter". ZO-NWS (in Dutch). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  15. ^ "FC Utrecht met enige moeite langs Sportlust'46, Sparta komt met de schrik vrij". NOS (in Dutch). 20 October 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  16. ^ "Het Utrecht van Fraser stuit opmars Sparta, de oude club van Fraser". NOS (in Dutch). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  17. ^ "Brøndby IF skriver kontrakt med Sean Klaiber". Brøndby IF (Press release) (in Danish). 1 September 2023. Archived from the original on 2 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  18. ^ Abolhosseini, Farzam (1 September 2023). "B.T. afslører: Brøndby betaler otte millioner kroner for Sean Klaiber". B.T. (in Danish). Archived from the original on 1 September 2023. Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  19. ^ Nelausen, Raymund (1 September 2023). "Officielt: Brøndby henter Utrecht-back". bold.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2 September 2023.
  20. ^ de Bruijn, Thijs (19 November 2019). "Zo kan het nationaal elftal van Suriname eruit gaan zien". elfvoetbal.nl (in Dutch). ELF Voetbal. Retrieved 4 October 2020.
  21. ^ "Champions League-debuut voor Sean Klaiber". ESPN (in Dutch). 13 June 2021. Retrieved 16 June 2021.
  22. ^ Surinamese Football Federation [@OfficialSVB1920] (25 June 2021). "The 2️⃣3️⃣ That Will Represent Us At The CONCACAF Gold Cup" (Tweet). Retrieved 12 July 2021 – via Twitter.
  23. ^ "Champions League-debuut voor Sean Klaiber". AD (in Dutch). 13 July 2021. Retrieved 13 July 2021.
  24. ^ a b Sean Klaiber at Soccerway
  25. ^ "Sean Klaiber - Career Honours". Soccerway.
  26. ^ "Neres' stoppage-time goal seals Dutch Cup win". Ajax website. 18 April 2021. Retrieved 18 April 2021.

External links

Brøndby IF – current squad
Suriname squad – 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup
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