Patrick Kluivert's son Justin and his breakthrough at Ajax

The surname sounds familiar for good reason: Justin Kluivert is Patrick Kluivert’s son. Justin was only 17, but he had already made 9 appearances in the Eredivisie. He scored his first goal for the Ajax senior team at the weekend in a 1-1 draw with Excelsior, equalising in the 32nd minute.

Football experts predicted a bright future for the young striker. He had come through all of the Dutch youth sides, making more than 20 appearances for the Netherlands at U15, U16, U17 and U18 level.

The talented forward began his professional career at the start of that season with Jong Ajax in the Dutch second division. Kluivert scored twice in 8 appearances for the team and earned a place in the Lancers’ first team. Justin made his Eredivisie debut on 15th January 2017 in a 3-1 away win over PEC Zwolle. It took him 9 matches to score his first senior goal for Ajax, and that goal earned his team a point against Excelsior. It was his third start for Ajax that campaign.

Justin Kluivert scored his first senior goal 10 years and 1 day after his father’s last professional goal.

Justin still had a long way to go before he could be compared with his father. Patrick Kluivert scored 200 goals in his professional career for clubs such as Ajax, Milan, Barcelona, Newcastle United, Valencia, PSV Eindhoven and Lille. He also scored 40 goals in 79 appearances for the Netherlands and played at 3 major tournaments. Patrick Kluivert won the Golden Boot as joint top scorer at Euro 2000. Whether Justin could surpass his father remained an open question.

The breakthrough season at Ajax

Justin Kluivert was born in Amsterdam on 5 May 1999. His Eredivisie debut on 15 January 2017 came as a substitute for Amin Younes in the 39th minute at PEC Zwolle, and the first goal followed on 19 March 2017 at Excelsior. By the end of that season he was part of the Ajax squad for the Europa League final in Stockholm, where he was an unused substitute in the 2-0 defeat by Manchester United.

The following campaign confirmed the promise. On 26 November 2017 he scored a hat-trick in a 5-1 home win over Roda JC, and on 26 March 2018 he made his senior Netherlands debut, replacing Memphis Depay for the last 12 minutes of a 3-0 win over Portugal in Geneva.

From Amsterdam to the Premier League

Roma signed Kluivert on 12 June 2018 for €18.75 million. Spells on loan followed at RB Leipzig from October 2020, Nice from July 2021 and Valencia for the 2022-23 season, before Bournemouth announced his permanent signing on 23 June 2023, for a reported fee of around €11 million plus add-ons.

In England he set a record of his own. On 30 November 2024 he scored three penalties in Bournemouth’s 4-2 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers, becoming the first player to score a hat-trick of penalties in a Premier League match.

The father’s benchmark

The comparison with Patrick Kluivert was always going to be demanding. Born in Amsterdam on 1 July 1976, Patrick came off the bench in the 1995 Champions League final in Vienna and scored the 85th-minute winner for Ajax against AC Milan. At 18 years, 10 months and 23 days he became the youngest player to score in a Champions League final.

He spent six seasons at Barcelona, from 1998 to 2004, and won 79 caps for the Netherlands between 1994 and 2004, scoring 40 goals. At Euro 2000 he shared the Golden Boot with Savo Milosevic after scoring five goals. After his playing career he moved into coaching and football management, including spells as head coach of Curaçao and as director of the Barcelona academy from 2019 to 2021.