Philippe Sandler (born 10 February 1997) is a Dutch 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

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 ...

for

NEC Nijmegen NEC Nijmegen (''Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie''), commonly known as NEC (), is a professional Dutch association football club based in Nijmegen. The club currently competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, following promotion ...

Club career

Born in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

, Sandler began his senior career 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 ...

in the 2016–17 season, having previously played youth football for

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

. In January 2018 it was announced that Sandler would leave PEC Zwolle to join English club

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

in the summer of 2018, for a transfer fee reported to be between €2.5 and 3 million. The transfer went through on 31 July 2018. Sandler requested the number 34 shirt in tribute to former Ajax teammate

Abdelhak Nouri Abdelhak "Appie" Nouri (born 2 April 1997) is a Dutch former professional footballer who played as a midfielder. He operated primarily as an attacking midfielder, but could also be deployed as a winger. A youth product of Eredivisie club Ajax ...

, who collapsed and suffered brain damage, ending his career. Sandler made his City debut on 6 January 2019, coming on as a substitute in a 7–0 win over

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

in the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. Sandler was loaned to

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

for the 2019–20 season, joining up with Anderlecht player-manager, former City teammate

Vincent Kompany Vincent Jean Mpoy Kompany (born 10 April 1986) is a Belgian professional Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former Association football, player who played as a centre-back. He is currently the head coach of ...

. In the 2020–21 season, Sandler underwent surgery for an ankle injury which left him out of the City first team squad for almost the entire season. He was however able to play in some of the final Academy team games of the season. On 31 August 2021 he moved on loan to French club

Troyes Troyes () is a Communes of France, commune and the capital of the Departments of France, department of Aube in the Grand Est region of north-central France. It is located on the Seine river about south-east of Paris. Troyes is situated within ...

. After two appearances, the loan was ended on 25 January 2022. He signed for

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 ...

on 1 February 2022, signing a contract until the end of the season with the option to extend for another year. He made his debut for the club on 8 May in a 2–2 draw against PSV. On 27 May 2022, Feyenoord confirmed that the club would not be using the option to extend his contract for another year. On 11 August 2022, Sandler signed a three-year contract with

. He scored his first goal in the Eredivisie on 23 October, deep into overtime to secure a 3–3 home draw against

Go Ahead Eagles The Go Ahead Eagles are a Dutch professional football club from the city of Deventer in the province of Overijssel. They play in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football, having achieved promotion from the second tier Eerste Divisie in th ...

International career

Sandler has represented the Netherlands at under-20 level. He is eligible to play for 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 ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

, and

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, having been born to a South African father and American mother.Anderlecht haalt nieuwe Virgil van Dijk
Nieuwsblad.be, 7 August 2019

Personal life

Sandler was born in

to a South African father and an

American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

mother. His father is Jewish.

Career statistics

Honours

Feyenoord *

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

runner-up: 2021–22

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sandler, Philippe Living people 1997 births Footballers from Amsterdam Dutch people of American descent Dutch people of South African descent Dutch people of Jewish descent Dutch men's footballers Netherlands men's youth international footballers AFC Ajax players PEC Zwolle players Manchester City F.C. players R.S.C. Anderlecht players ES Troyes AC players Feyenoord players NEC Nijmegen players Eredivisie players Belgian Pro League players Ligue 1 players Men's association football defenders Dutch expatriate men's footballers Dutch expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in England Dutch expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Dutch expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France 21st-century Dutch sportsmen