Danzell Orlando Marcelino Gravenberch (born 13 February 1994) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a striker for club

FC Den Bosch FC Den Bosch () is a professional football club from 's-Hertogenbosch, They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie. They were founded 18 August 1965, as FC Den Bosch/BVV. They are the successor of BVV (1906) and Wilhelmina (1890). Their stadiu ...

. Born in the Netherlands, he plays for the Suriname national team.

Club career

Ajax

Born in Amsterdam, Gravenberch began playing football in the youth ranks of local amateur side

SV Bijlmer Voetbalvereniging Zuidoost United is a football club based in the Zuidoost borough of Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 2010, their main team competes in the Vijfde Klasse, the tenth and lowest tier of the Dutch football league system. Histor ...

, from where he was recruited to join the

Ajax Academy The Ajax Youth Academy (Dutch: ''Ajax Jeugdopleiding'') is a football youth academy based in Amsterdam, Netherlands, from where the organization manages a total of 13 youth teams (ages 7–18). The academy is the primary youth clinic of Dutch foo ...

in 2002. Gravenberch helped the Ajax A1 youth squad win the 2011–12 Nike Eredivisie league title. The team finished as runners-up to

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the NextGen Series (the Champions League equivalent for under-20 teams) after losing on penalties (5–3) following a 1–1 deadlock after extra time. On 7 June 2012, it was announced that Gravenberch had signed his first professional contract, a three-year deal binding him to the club until 30 June 2015. Gravenberch began his career in the youth teams of Ajax as a striker, but was moved back to play as a defender while playing for

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

under manager

Fred Grim Johann Georg Friedrich "Fred" Grim (born 17 August 1965) is a Dutch football coach and former player who is currently manager of FC Emmen. A former goalkeeper, Grim represented Ajax and Cambuur during his playing career. Playing career Grim beg ...

in the 2012–13

Beloften Eredivisie The Beloften Eredivisie (; ''"Promised Honor Division"'') was the highest football league for reserve teams in the Netherlands organized by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB). The league was founded in 1992 as ''Reserve Teams Eredivisie'' ...

. Jong Ajax were promoted to the

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

, the second tier of professional football in the Netherlands, for the 2013–14 season. Gravenberch made his professional debut in a 2–0 away loss to

FC Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbreviati ...

in the Eerste Divisie on 8 August 2013. He was cautioned before being replaced by Sven Nieuwpoort on 46 minutes.

NEC (loan)

On 17 January 2014, it was announced that Gravenberch had been sent on loan to

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

until the end of the season.

Universitatea Cluj

On 4 September 2014, it was announced that Gravenberch had signed with Romanian club

Universitatea Cluj Asociația Sportivă Fotbal Club Universitatea Cluj (), commonly known as Universitatea Cluj or simply U Cluj, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in the city of Cluj-Napoca, Cluj County, that competes in the L ...

. The move came after an unsuccessful trial period with

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

side

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

. Gravenberch signed a 2-year contract with U Cluj, reuniting him with his former coach and now technical director of the club

Alfons Groenendijk Alfons Groenendijk (; born 17 May 1964) Dutch professional football manager and former player who has been the head coach of club Jong PSV since 2024. Club career During his career, Groenendijk played for ADO Den Haag, Roda JC, Ajax, Mancheste ...

, as well as newly appointed manager and former Ajax player

George Ogăraru George Cristian Ogăraru (born 3 February 1980) is a former Romanian professional footballer who played as a right back, currently technical youth center director at Liga II club CSA Steaua București. Club career Ogăraru is one of the players ...

. He made his

Liga I Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1 and officially known as SuperLiga for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Romania and the highest level of the Romanian football league system. Contested by 1 ...

debut on 14 September 2014 in an away match against

FC Rapid București Fotbal Club Rapid 1923, commonly known as Rapid București () or simply as Rapid, is a Romanian professional association football, football club based in Bucharest, that competes in the Liga I. It was founded in 1923 by employees of the Grivi� ...

which ended in a 2–1 loss.

FC Dordrecht

On 24 June 2015 it was announced that Gravenberch had returned to the Netherlands, signing with the recently relegated

FC Dordrecht Football Club Dordrecht, or simply FC Dordrecht () is a professional Dutch association football club based in Dordrecht, a city in the Western Netherlands, located in the province of South Holland. They currently compete in the Eerste Divisie, ...

, competing in the

Reading

On 25 May 2016

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

announced the signing of Gravenberch on a three-year contract, the deal was then officially completed when the

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

opened on 1 July 2016. On 23 August 2016 Gravenberch made his competitive debut vs

MK Dons Milton Keynes Dons Football Club, usually abbreviated to MK Dons, is a professional association football club based in Milton Keynes, Buckinghamshire, England. The team competes in EFL League Two, the fourth level of the English football leag ...

in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

. He made his league debut as a late substitute against

Aston Villa Aston Villa Football Club (commonly referred to as simply Villa) is a professional football club based in Aston, Birmingham, England. The club, founded in 1874, compete in the Premier League, the top tier of English football. The team have p ...

on 18 October 2016. In October 2016, Gravenberch was criticized by Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, for a challenge on Lucas Perez, which left the Arsenal striker out for at least 6 weeks. On 4 July 2017, Gravenberch moved to

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

club

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

for two seasons on loan. However, he was injured throughout his first season with Roesleare. He was released by Reading at the end of the 2018–19 season.

Return to the Netherlands

In September 2019, Gravenberch joined Eerste Divisie club

TOP Oss TOP Oss (), is a professional association football club based in the town of Oss, North Brabant, Netherlands, that competes in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of the Dutch football league system. Founded in 1928 as T.O.P., a Dutch abbrevia ...

. After an unfortunate first half of the season, in which he failed to score and was also utilised as a centre-back, he left the club again. Gravenberch would play the remainder of the season at his former club Dordrecht. In June 2020, Sparta Rotterdam picked up Gravenberch from Dordrecht one a one-year deal. With

Sparta Sparta was a prominent city-state in Laconia in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (), while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement in the Evrotas Valley, valley of Evrotas (river), Evrotas rive ...

, he scored his first-ever goals in the

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

, ending the

2020–21 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

season with 4 goals in 20 appearances. On 30 March 2021, it was announced that his contract would not be extended. In May 2021, Gravenberch signed a two-year contract with

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

. After a short stint with Cypriot club Karmiotissa, Gravenberch signed a one-year contract with Eerste Divisie club

Telstar Telstar refers to a series of communications satellites. The first two, Telstar 1 and Telstar 2, were experimental and nearly identical. Telstar 1 launched atop of a Thor-Delta rocket on July 10, 1962, successfully relayed the first televisi ...

on 31 August 2023. On 30 July 2024, Gravenberch signed with

for the 2024–25 season, with an option for the 2025–26 season.

International career

Gravenberch has played for the Netherlands at various youth levels. On 6 February 2010, he received his first U-16 cap in a match against Italy at the Albufeira 4 Nations Tournament in Portugal. On 17 September 2010, Gravenberch made his U-17 debut in another encounter with

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

during the Ursapharm-Vier-Nationen-Turnier in Germany. The following year, he was selected by Albert Stuivenberg to play in the

2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2012 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the eleventh edition of UEFA's European Under-17 Football Championship under its current age grouping. Slovenia hosted the tournament between 4 and 16 May. An appeal by the Hungarian Football Feder ...

, where he helped the Netherlands to their second consecutive title, defeating

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in the final 5–4 on penalties, after extra time following a 1–1 deadlock. Gravenberch was also selected for the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 14th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was h ...

in Mexico where he scored his first goal in the second group stage match against

North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders China and Russia to the north at the Yalu River, Yalu (Amnok) an ...

. He appeared in all three group stage matches, of which they managed one victory, a draw and a loss resulting in an early exit from the tournament for the Dutch. On 11 November 2011, Gravenberch made his U-18 debut in a friendly match against Romania. His U-19 debut came in a friendly match against

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

on 10 September 2012. He was selected by U-19 head coach Wim van Zwam for the

2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 12th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship, since its reclassification from an under-18 tournament in 2002, and the 62nd since the tournament was created in 1948. It was hosted in Li ...

in Lithuania, appearing in all three group stage matches before being eliminated following one win and two losses. In 2023, however, Gravenberch decided to represent the home country of his parents, Suriname, and made his debut in March 2023 against Mexico.

Personal life

Gravenberch is of Surinamese descent. His younger brother,

Ryan Gravenberch Ryan Jiro Gravenberch (born 16 May 2002) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central or defensive midfielder for club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Gravenberch began his career with Zeeburgia before joining Ajax, ...

, is also a professional footballer.

Career statistics

Honours

Club

Ajax U19 * A-Junioren Eredivisie: 2011–12 * NextGen Series runner-up: 2011–12 Universitatea Cluj *

Cupa României The Cupa României () is a Association football, football cup competition for List of football clubs in Romania, Romanian teams which has been held annually since 1933–34 Cupa României, 1933–34, except during World War II. It is the Romania ...

runner-up: 2014–15

International

Netherlands U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Football Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-17, is an annual football competition contested by the men's under-17 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competition, having ...

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

References

External links

Voetbal International profile
*
Netherlands U19 stats
at OnsOranje * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Gravenberch, Danzell 1994 births Living people Surinamese men's footballers 21st-century Surinamese sportsmen Suriname men's international footballers Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Footballers from Amsterdam Zuidoost United players AFC Ajax players NEC Nijmegen players FC Dordrecht players Reading F.C. players FC Universitatea Cluj players K.S.V. Roeselare players TOP Oss players Sparta Rotterdam players De Graafschap players Karmiotissa FC players SC Telstar players FC Den Bosch players Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players English Football League players Liga I players Challenger Pro League players Cypriot First Division players Surinamese expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Romania Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus 21st-century Dutch sportsmen