Joël Veltman


Joël Ivo Veltman is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a defender for Premier League team Brighton & Hove Albion and the Netherlands national team.
A product of the Ajax youth academy, Veltman made 246 appearances for the Amsterdam club before moving on to Brighton in July 2020 for a £900,000 fee on a three-year deal.
Veltman has made over 20 caps for the Netherlands national team since his debut in November 2013.

Club career

Ajax

Veltman began his football career in the youth teams of VV IJmuiden in his hometown of IJmuiden before moving to Ajax in 2001, where he went through the youth ranks of the club. While playing for the Ajax A1 youth squad in 2011–12, Veltman helped his side to win the Nike Eredivisie league title, as well finishing as runners-up to Inter Milan in the NextGen Series after losing on penalties following a 1–1 deadlock after extra time.
He made his official debut for the Ajax first team on 19 August 2012 in an away match against NEC in Nijmegen, entering as a substitute for Mitchell Dijks in the 79th minute; the match ended in a 6–1 away win for Ajax. Following a successful starting season with the Ajax first team, helping his side secure its third-straight national title and his personal first, on 6 June 2013 it was announced that Veltman had extended his contract with Ajax for another four years, keeping him with the club until the summer of 2017.
On 5 August 2013, Veltman played in the Eerste Divisie debut of the newly-promoted reserves team Jong Ajax at the start of the season. Substituted off in the 89th minute of a 2–0 home win, due to a sustained injury, Veltman found himself sidelined for the next two months. He returned from injury on 30 September 2013 in another match for Jong Ajax, this time against Volendam, where he scored his first professional goal in the 3–2 loss at the Sportpark De Toekomst, netting the opener in the seventh minute. On 22 October 2013, Veltman made his continental debut for the first team when he replaced injured first-choice centre-back Niklas Moisander in the 2013–14 UEFA Champions League group stage match against Celtic. The away match at Celtic Park ended in a 2–1 loss for the Amsterdam side.
In April 2018, Veltman tore his ACL in a match against VVV-Venlo. After a long recovery he returned to first-team action in February 2019.

Brighton & Hove Albion

On 29 July 2020, Premier League club Brighton & Hove Albion announced that they had completed the signing of Veltman from Ajax on a three-year deal after activating the release clause in his contract, valued at £900,000. Veltman chose to wear the number 34 jersey, as a tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who collapsed during a friendly in 2017 and went into an induced coma.

International career

Youth

Veltman made Netherlands debut playing for the under-17 squad on 10 February 2009 in the 2009 edition of the La Manga Cup in the 0–4 loss against Czech Republic U17s. He also played in the 2009 UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship group stage match against England U17s which ended in a 1–1 draw, having previously appeared in three of the qualification matches. On 2 September 2010, Veltman made his debut for Netherlands U19s in a friendly against Germany which ended in a 2–2 draw. On 9 February 2011, Veltman scored his first international goal in another friendly for the U19s against France, with the match ending in a 1–1 draw. On 23 May 2012, Veltman made his debut for the U21 side at the 2012 Toulon Tournament in France. He appeared in four matches for the Dutch, making his debut against Egypt in the 3–0 win.

Senior

On 8 November 2013, it was announced that Veltman received his first call-up for the Netherlands senior team by head coach Louis van Gaal for the friendly matches against Japan and Colombia. Remaining on the bench for the duration of the first match against Japan, Veltman made his debut for the first team on 19 November in the fixture against Colombia, playing the full 90 minutes in the 0–0 draw at the Amsterdam Arena. On 31 May 2014, Veltman was named as part of the 23-man squad heading to the finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup under Van Gaal. He was joined by Ajax teammates Daley Blind and Jasper Cillessen.

Personal life

Veltman is of distant Indonesian descent through one of his great-grandmothers.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

NoDateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1.4 June 2017De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands1–05–0Friendly
2.4 June 2017De Kuip, Rotterdam, Netherlands3–05–0Friendly

Honours

Club

Ajax
Netherlands
Ajax