Gregory Kurtley van der Wiel (born 3 February 1988) is a Dutch international footballer who plays professionally for Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain, as a right back.
Born in Amsterdam to a father from Curaçao and a Dutch mother, he is a product of the renowned Ajax youth system, who plays an attacking right back and is known for his speedy runs down the flank. In 2010, Van der Wiel was awarded the Johan Cruyff Award for "Young Player of the Year" in the Netherlands. He made his debut for the Dutch national team in February 2009, and participated in the Netherlands' silver winning performance at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. Dutch team-mate John Heitinga has labeled him the spiritual successor of Michael Reiziger for the Netherlands.
Van der Wiel made his professional debut for Ajax on 11 March 2007 in a 4–1 away win against FC Twente, coming on as a substitute for Jaap Stam. Following the 2010 World Cup Van der Wiel was in talks to make a transfer to Louis van Gaal's Bayern Munich. However, Ajax was not able to agree to a deal. The 2010–11 season was another successful season for Van der Wiel, as he maintained his first-team position under new manager Frank de Boer. At the end of the season, Van der Wiel had played 32 league matches (51 matches in all competitions) and won his first Eredivisie title. Ajax and Twente decided the Eredivisie title in the last league match of the season, and Van der Wiel played an instrumental role in the match with his assist on Siem de Jong for Ajax's opening goal in the match.
Van der Wiel moved to Paris Saint-Germain on 1 September 2012. |
