A short, but extremely significant message. “Career ends. Thanks football.” With this comment Kevin Strootman he wanted to say goodbye to playing football, after a career spent mostly on the pitches of our Serie A. A journey among professionals that lasted 17 years and ended yesterday, as mentioned, at the age of 34.
Consecration in Serie A
Italy had a crucial role in the career of Strootman, who experienced perhaps the best years of his career at Roma from 2013 to 2018. Arrived from PSV for 16.5 million euros plus bonuses with one of the most profitable transfers in the history of the Eindhoven club (before PSV, in his homeland, his destiny had included Sparta Rotterdam and Utrecht), in the capital he collected well 131 appearances, seasoned with 13 goals and above all with that nickname “washing machine” – given to him by Mister Rudi Garcia for his ability to recover and clean up the balls in the middle of the pitch – which the class of ’90 brought with him during the continuation of his career. After his long experience in the Giallorossi ranks, Strootman then flew to France to wear the Olympique Marseille shirt of his own coach at the time of Roma (78 appearances and 3 goals from 2018 to January 2021) and finally wanted to return to our country in January 2021, spending the last three and a half seasons between Genoa and Cagliari (78 appearances and 2 goals with the Grifone, 11 with the Sardinians).