Jeffrey Kevin van Homoet Bruma (; born 13 November 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

Club career

Chelsea

Bruma joined Chelsea's youth setup from

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

at the age of 15 for a fee of £100,000, and was making appearances for the reserve team by the age of 16. In the 2007–08 season, Bruma played centre back in every round of the

FA Youth Cup The Football Association Youth Challenge Cup is an English football competition run by The Football Association for under-18 sides. Only those players between the age of 15 and 18 on 31 August of the current season are eligible to take part. It ...

run to the final and made the most appearances in the youth league. Bruma also played for the Netherlands U-21 national team. Jeffrey Bruma 4677

In September 2009, Bruma was added to Chelsea's UEFA Champions League squad and was on the bench against

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

. On 13 October 2009, Bruma made his debut for the Netherlands U-21 national football team in an Under-21 Championship qualifying game victory over

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

. Eleven days later, Bruma made his Premier League debut for Chelsea, coming on as a substitute in a 5–0 victory over

Blackburn Rovers Blackburn Rovers Football Club is a professional football club based in Blackburn, Lancashire, England, which competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. They have played home matches at Ewood Park since 1890. Th ...

. On 2 December 2009, Bruma made his League Cup debut, coming on as a substitute for

Juliano Belletti Juliano Haus Belletti (born 20 June 1976) is a Brazilian association football, football Coach (sport), coach and former player who mostly played as a right-back. He is currently the head coach at FC Barcelona Atlètic, Barcelona Atlètic. Belle ...

in the quarter final in a match against Blackburn Rovers, a match which Chelsea later lost on penalties. On 20 February 2010, Bruma made his second Premier League appearance, in the 2–0 victory at

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, where he was a 56th-minute substitute replacing the injured Yuri Zhirkov. Although Bruma was playing for Chelsea's first team, he was also playing in the youth squad, scoring a goal in the

Final; First Leg at

Villa Park Villa Park is a association football, football stadium in Aston, Birmingham, with a seating capacity of 42,918. It has been the home of Premier League club Aston Villa F.C., Aston Villa since 1897. The ground is less than a mile from both Witt ...

. Chelsea went on to beat

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 ...

3–2 on aggregate to lift the trophy for the first time since 1961. He was named in the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

squad in July 2010. He featured in a friendly match against

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, which finished 1–1 earning his first cap. On 1 September 2010, Bruma signed a new four-year contract which would keep him at Chelsea until at least 2014. He came on for Alex against Blackpool on 19 September 2010 and played a whole 90 minutes in a League Cup match against Newcastle on 22 September 2010. Bruma had his first start in the Premier League in a home game against Aston Villa, where he partnered captain

John Terry John George Terry (born 7 December 1980) is an English professional Coach (association football), football coach and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He was previously captain of Chelsea F.C., Chelsea, the En ...

in central defence. The match was played on 2 January 2011 and ended in a 3–3 draw. Bruma played the whole game.

Loan to Leicester City

On 11 February 2011, Bruma joined

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

on loan until the end of the

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season, where he linked up with fellow Chelsea loanee Patrick van Aanholt. He made his debut for Leicester as a second-half substitute for Sol Bamba in the 84th of the team's 2–0 away win at

Derby County Derby County Football Club () is a professional association football club in Derby, England. They compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. One of the 12 founder members of the English Football ...

on 12 February 2011. Bruma made his first start in a 2–0 defeat to

Cardiff City Cardiff City Football Club () is a professional association football club based in Cardiff, Wales. It currently competes in , the third tier of the English football league system in the 2025–26 season following relegation. Founded in 1899 a ...

. Bruma stated that he aimed to use the loan to Leicester City to earn a place in Chelsea's first team or a move elsewhere. If not he stated he would like to go on loan again. On 2 April 2011, against

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

, Bruma conceded a penalty for handball that was saved by

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

, Chris Weale. Shortly after this incident he received the first red card of his senior career after receiving two yellow cards for dissent towards the

referee A referee is an official, in a variety of sports and competition, responsible for enforcing the rules of the sport, including sportsmanship decisions such as ejection. The official tasked with this job may be known by a variety of other title ...

. Leicester City drew the game 3–3. Leicester had not won in the first seven starts Bruma had for the club. He was then moved into central midfield and he scored his first two league goals in a 4–2 win over

Watford Watford () is a town and non-metropolitan district with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in Hertfordshire, England, northwest of Central London, on the banks of the River Colne, Hertfordshire, River Colne. Initially a smal ...

on 25 April 2011; both efforts were struck from 30 yards out.

Loan to Hamburger SV

Bruma joined

Hamburger SV Hamburger Sport-Verein e.V. (), commonly known as Hamburger SV () or Hamburg (), or HSV (), is a German sports club based in Hamburg, with its largest branch being its Association football, football department. Though the current HSV was founde ...

on a one-year loan deal, until 30 June 2012, with an option for another year and was given the number 5 shirt. On 23 September 2011, he scored his first Bundesliga goal in a 2–1 victory against

VfB Stuttgart Verein für Bewegungsspiele Stuttgart 1893 e. V. (), commonly known as VfB Stuttgart (), is a German professional sports club based in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. The club's Association football, football team is currently part of Germany's f ...

, the equalizing goal to make the score 1–1. Bruma's loan was extended for another season at Hamburger SV after making 22 appearances and scoring two goals in the previous season. In April 2013, it was announced that the club had decided not to sign him permanently.

PSV

On 26 June 2013, it was announced that Bruma had signed a contract with PSV. As part of the deal to take Bruma to

Eindhoven Eindhoven ( ; ) is a city and List of municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality of the Netherlands, located in the southern Provinces of the Netherlands, province of North Brabant, of which it is the largest municipality, and is also locat ...

, Chelsea insisted there was a buy-back clause in his contract. On 30 July 2013, Bruma made his PSV debut in a 2–0 victory over Zulte Waregem, therefore giving PSV a 5–0 victory on aggregate in this

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

qualifying tie. On 3 August 2013, Bruma made his league debut in a 3–2 victory over

ADO Den Haag Alles Door Oefening Den Haag (), commonly known by the abbreviated name ADO Den Haag (), is a Dutch association football club from the city of The Hague. They play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football, following relegation ...

, playing the full 90 minutes. On 2 November 2013, Bruma scored his first PSV goal in a 1–1 draw with

PEC Zwolle Prins Hendrik Ende Desespereert Nimmer Combinatie Zwolle, commonly known as PEC Zwolle, is a Dutch professional football club based in Zwolle, Netherlands. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football. They have played in the Ered ...

, netting in the third minute.

VfL Wolfsburg

On 26 June 2016, Bruma made a return to German football, signing a five-year deal with Bundesliga side

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

for an undisclosed fee. Following a five-year spell with the club, Bruma left in July 2021 at the end of his contract.

Loan to Schalke 04

On 31 January 2019, Bruma was loaned to

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

until the end of the campaign.

Loan to Mainz 05

On 29 January 2020,

Mainz 05 1. Fußball- und Sport-Verein Mainz 05 e. V., usually shortened to 1. FSV Mainz 05 or simply Mainz 05 (), is a German professional sports club, founded in 1905 and based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. Mainz 05 play in the Bundesliga, the top tie ...

announced their signing of Bruma on loan for the remainder of the 2019–20 season.

Kasımpaşa

On 3 August 2021, Bruma agreed to join Turkish side, Kasımpaşa on a two-year deal, with an option of a third year. He went onto make his debut during a 1–1 draw with

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...

on 14 August.

Heerenveen

On 30 January 2023, Bruma signed a contract with

Heerenveen Heerenveen (, ) is a town and Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of Friesland (Fryslân), in the Northern Netherlands. In 2021, the town had a population of 29,790 (1 January) while the m ...

until the end of the season, replacing injured

captain

Sven van Beek Sven is a Scandinavian masculine first name. In Old Norse the meaning was "young man" or "servant" and the original Old Norse spelling was ''sveinn''. Variants such as '' Svend'' are found in Danish and Norwegian. Another variant, '' Svein'' ...

, returning to 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 ...

after 7 years.

RKC Waalwijk

On 17 July 2023, Bruma joined

RKC Waalwijk RKC Waalwijk () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Waalwijk. They currently play in the Eerste Divisie, the second tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, following relegation from the Eredivisie i ...

on a one-year contract.

International career

Bruma has represented the Netherlands at all youth levels: under-17, under-18, under-19 and under-21 levels. With the U17s, Bruma played in the 2007 European Under-17 Championship. At U21, Bruma made his debut at 17 years old, on 4 September 2009, during a qualifying match for the

2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship was the 18th staging of UEFA's UEFA European Under-21 Championship, European Under-21 Championship. The final tournament was hosted by Denmark between 11 and 25 June 2011. The Danish bid was chosen by ...

against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, where his team won 2–0. On 11 August 2010, Bruma received his first call-up in the selection of the Netherlands making his debut, starting against

, with

Jeremain Lens Jeremain Marciano Lens (born 24 November 1987) is a Dutch former professional footballer. He was a versatile attacking player, known for his pace and stamina, primarily being used as a winger or a striker, but he could also successfully play as ...

, Siem de Jong and

Ricky van Wolfswinkel Ricky van Wolfswinkel (; born 27 January 1989) is a Dutch professional association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), striker for Eredivisie club FC Twente. He has played top-flight football in the Netherlands, ...

three other debutants in the starting line, which ended a 1–1 draw. His second appearance for the Netherlands would be the 8 June 2011, another 1–1 draw against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

, having replaced Joris Mathijsen at half-time. Bruma scored his first international goal on 16 November 2014 against

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

in a qualifying match for

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

, which the Dutch won 6–0.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Netherlands' goal tally first.''

Personal life

Bruma's mother is from

Suriname Suriname, officially the Republic of Suriname, is a country in northern South America, also considered as part of the Caribbean and the West Indies. It is a developing country with a Human Development Index, high level of human development; i ...

and his father is Dutch. His older brother, Marciano Bruma, and his cousins

Kyle Ebecilio Kyle Stephen Joel Ebecilio (born 17 February 1994) is a Dutch Association football, footballer who plays for Vierde Divisie club :nl:SC Kruisland, Kruisland. Ebecilio, who plays as a Association football, midfielder, has featured for Arsenal F.C ...

and Noa Lang are also football players. His uncle is former

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

full-back

Fabian Wilnis Fabian Wilnis (born 23 August 1970) is a Dutch-Surinamese former professional footballer who played as a full-back. He played for NAC Breda, De Graafschap, Ipswich Town, Grays Athletic and Leiston. Wilnis started his career with the Sparta Rot ...

Honours

PSV *

: 2014–15, 2015–16 *

Johan Cruyff Shield The Johan Cruyff Shield (, ) is a football trophy in the Netherlands named after Dutch footballer Johan Cruyff, also often referred to as the Dutch Super Cup. The winner is decided in one match only, played by the winner of the national footbal ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

References

General *
Jeffrey Bruma
at ''

Voetbal International ''Voetbal International'' (VI) is a Dutch football magazine. It is the oldest Dutch football magazine that is still running. History and profile ''Voetbal International'' was established in 1965. VI was one of the founding members of ESM. It l ...

'' * * Specific

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruma, Jeffery 1991 births Living people Footballers from Rotterdam Dutch men's footballers Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch sportspeople of Surinamese descent Netherlands men's youth international footballers Netherlands men's under-21 international footballers Netherlands men's international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Men's association football defenders Feyenoord players Chelsea F.C. players Leicester City F.C. players Hamburger SV players PSV Eindhoven players Premier League players English Football League players Bundesliga players Eredivisie players Süper Lig players VfL Wolfsburg players FC Schalke 04 players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers SC Heerenveen players RKC Waalwijk players Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Germany Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Turkey 21st-century Dutch sportsmen