Rajiv van La Parra

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Rajiv van La Parra
Rajiv vlp.jpg
Van La Parra playing for Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2015
Personal information
Full name Rajiv Ramon van La Parra[1]
Date of birth (1991-06-04) 4 June 1991 (age 30)[2]
Place of birth Rotterdam, Netherlands
Height 1.81 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Club information
Current team
 Apollon Smyrnis
Number 91
Youth career
1999–2008 Feyenoord
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2008–2011 Caen B 13 (1)
2008–2011 Caen 16 (1)
2011–2014 SC Heerenveen 82 (14)
2014–2016 Wolverhampton Wanderers 53 (1)
2015–2016 → Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 6 (2)
2016 → Huddersfield Town (loan) 8 (0)
2016–2019 Huddersfield Town 85 (5)
2019 → Middlesbrough (loan) 3 (0)
2019–2020 Red Star Belgrade 4 (0)
2020–2021 Logroñés 3 (0)
2021 Würzburger Kickers 10 (1)
2021– Apollon Smyrnis 1 (0)
National team
2005–2008 Netherlands U17 17 (0)
2009–2010 Netherlands U19 13 (1)
2012–2013 Netherlands U21 6 (0)
* Senior club appearances and goals counted for the domestic league only and correct as of 11 September 2021

Rajiv Ramon van La Parra (born 4 June 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays for Greek club Apollon Smyrnis. A winger, he can also play as a striker. At international level, he has represented the Netherlands U21.

Van La Parra played his first senior games in France with Caen before returning to the Netherlands in 2011 for a three-season-long stay with SC Heerenveen. In June 2014, he moved to England to join Wolverhampton Wanderers, who loaned him to Brighton & Hove Albion and Huddersfield Town before he joined the latter in 2016.

Club career[]

Caen[]

Van La Parra training with Caen in 2010.

Van La Parra is a product of the Feyenoord youth system, but made his senior debut instead for French Ligue 1 club Caen on 8 November 2008, having agreed a four-year contract in June 2008.[3] He cited the potential to reach the highest level while playing in France as the reason for his transfer.[3]

The right winger made only two appearances for Caen's first team during his first season, and the club ended the campaign being relegated. Despite this relegation, Van La Parra would make only a further eight appearances as the team won promotion back to the top flight, but did register his first senior goal; against Guingamp on 5 April 2009.[4] During these seasons, he instead gained playing time in Caen's second team that competed in the Championnat de France amateur.[4]

SC Heerenveen[]

In summer 2011, his contract was terminated and he returned to the Netherlands in search of a new club. After an unsuccessful trial at AZ Alkmaar,[5] he eventually signed a one-year contract with fellow Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen on 30 August 2011.[6] After scoring six times during 26 appearances in his debut season, Heerenveen elected to take up an option in his contract for two further seasons.[7] Over these three seasons, Van La Parra made 94 appearances (including playing in the Europa League), scoring 16 times.[8]

Wolverhampton Wanderers[]

His contract from Heerenveen expired in the summer of 2014, and after rejecting a new contract,[9] on 10 June it was announced that he would move to English Championship side Wolverhampton Wanderers, with whom he had signed a three-year contract.[10] He made his debut in the first match on 10 August 2014 against Norwich City, and was named man of the match. He scored his first goal for Wolves against Fulham in the FA Cup on 13 January 2015.[11] His first league goal came against future club Brighton & Hove Albion in a 1–1 draw on 14 March 2015.[12]

On 26 November 2015, Van La Parra signed a loan deal with Brighton, lasting until 2 January 2016.[13]

Huddersfield Town[]

On 11 March 2016, after some speculation, Van La Parra signed on loan for fellow Championship side Huddersfield Town for the rest of the season, with the move becoming a permanent deal in the summer, on a three-year contract. He made his debut for the Terriers in the 4–1 West Yorkshire derby win against Leeds United at Elland Road on 19 March, and scored his first goal in their 1–0 win over his former club Wolves at the Kirklees Stadium on 27 August. Van La Parra was an instrumental part of the Huddersfield Town side that was promoted to the Premier League in the 2016–17 season. He was then a regular as Huddersfield went on to survive relegation in the following season. After falling out of favour following Huddersfield's relegation, Van La Parra made it known he wished to leave the club.[14]

Red Star Belgrade and Logroñés[]

On 31 August 2019, Van La Parra signed a three-year contract with Serbian club Red Star Belgrade in a €1.2 million transfer from Huddersfield Town.[15]

On 16 November 2020, free agent van La Parra signed a one-year deal with Spanish Segunda División side UD Logroñés.[16] He was released from his contract on 31 January 2021, having made four appearances for the side.[17]

Würzburger Kickers[]

Van La Parra joined 2. Bundesliga club Würzburger Kickers on a free transfer on 1 February 2021, a day after being released by Logroñes.[18]

Personal life[]

Born in the Netherlands, Van La Parra is of Surinamese descent.[19] One of his half-brothers, Georginio Wijnaldum, currently plays for Paris Saint-Germain, while another, Giliano Wijnaldum, is a free agent. His cousin, Giovanni Drenthe, is also a professional footballer, playing for SV Excelsior in Suriname,[20] while another, Royston Drenthe, came out of retirement and now plays for Kozakken Boys.

Career statistics[]

As of 31 January 2021[21]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Cup League Cup Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Caen B 2010–11 CFA 12 1 — — — 12 1
2011–12 CFA 1 0 — — — 1 0
Total 13 1 — — — 13 1
Caen 2008–09 Ligue 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 — 2 0
2009–10 Ligue 2 8 1 0 0 0 0 — 8 1
2010–11 Ligue 1 6 0 0 0 1 0 — 7 0
Total 16 1 0 0 1 0 — 17 1
SC Heerenveen 2011–12 Eredivisie 23 4 3 2 — 0 0 26 6
2012–13 Eredivisie 29 5 1 0 — 6 0 36 5
2013–14 Eredivisie 30 5 3 0 — 2 0 35 5
Total 82 14 7 2 — 8 0 97 16
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2014–15 Championship 40 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 41 2
2015–16 Championship 13 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 16 0
Total 53 1 3 1 1 0 0 0 57 2
Brighton & Hove Albion (loan) 2015–16 Championship 6 2 0 0 — 0 0 6 2
Huddersfield Town (loan) 2015–16 Championship 8 0 — — 0 0 8 0
Huddersfield Town 2016–17 Championship 43 2 2 0 1 0 0 0 46 2
2017–18 Premier League 33 3 4 2 1 0 0 0 38 4
2018–19 Premier League 5 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 5 0
2019–20 Championship 4 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 5 0
Total 93 5 6 2 2 0 0 0 102 7
Middlesbrough (loan) 2018–19 Championship 3 0 2 0 1 0 0 0 6 0
Red Star 2019–20 Serbian SuperLiga 4 0 2 1 — 5[a] 0 11 1
Logroñés 2020–21 Segunda División 3 0 1 0 — — 4 0
Career total 273 24 20 6 4 0 13 0 311 30
  1. ^ Appearances in the UEFA Champions League

Honours[]

Huddersfield Town

References[]

  1. ^ "List of players under written contract registered between 01/06/2016 and 30/06/2016" (PDF). The Football Association. p. 33. Retrieved 11 November 2016.
  2. ^ Jump up to: a b "Rajiv van La Parra Profile". Premier League. Retrieved 22 December 2020.
  3. ^ Jump up to: a b "Van La Parra atout jeune et orange a Caen" (in French). Caen.maville.com. 20 June 2008.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b "Van La Parra" (in French). foot-national.com.
  5. ^ "Rajiv de la Parra week op proef bij AZ" (in Dutch). fanvanaz.nl. 4 July 2011.
  6. ^ "sc Heerenveen contracteert Van La Parra" (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 30 August 2011.
  7. ^ "sc Heerenveen legt Rajiv van La Parra langer vast" (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 27 March 2012.
  8. ^ "Rajiv van La Parra" (in Dutch). Voetbal International.
  9. ^ "Van La Parra kan verlengen, Kum moet vertrekken" (in Dutch). SC Heerenveen. 23 April 2014.
  10. ^ "Wolves sign Heerenveen winger Rajiv van La Parra". BBC Sport. 10 June 2014.
  11. ^ "Wolves 3–3 Fulham". BBC Sport. 13 January 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  12. ^ "Brighton 1–1 Wolves". BBC Sport. 14 March 2015. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  13. ^ "Man Utd's Wilson & Wolves' Van La Parra join Brighton on loan". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 November 2015.
  14. ^ "Huddersfield 1–0 Wolves". BBC Sport. 27 August 2016. Retrieved 29 August 2016.
  15. ^ Zvezda dovela pojačanje iz Premijer lige, obeštećenje od 1,2 miliona evra! at Sportski žurnal, 1 September 2019 (in Serbian)
  16. ^ "Rajiv Van La Parra, nuevo refuerzo para la parcela ofensiva blanquirroja" [Rajiv Van la Parra, new addition to the white-and-red forward line] (in Spanish). UD Logroñés. 16 November 2020. Retrieved 17 November 2020.
  17. ^ "Van La Parra, baja del mercado de invierno en la UD Logroñés" [Van la Parra, winter market loss for UD Logroñés] (in Spanish). UD Logroñés. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 31 January 2021.
  18. ^ "Rajiv van la Parra bringt Königsklassen-Erfahrung nach Würzburg". kicker (in German). 1 February 2021. Retrieved 1 February 2021.
  19. ^ "Zo kan het nationaal elftal van Suriname eruit gaan zien". Elfvoetbal.nl.
  20. ^ "Spotlight on Georginio Wijnaldum: Newcastle's new Dutch delight – Football Oranje". 12 July 2015.
  21. ^ "R. VAN LA PARRA". Soccerway. Retrieved 4 February 2018.
  22. ^ Woodcock, Ian (29 May 2017). "Huddersfield Town 0–0 Reading". BBC Sport. Retrieved 26 May 2018.

External links[]

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