Rick van Drongelen

Rick van Drongelen (born 20 December 1998) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Super League Greece club Panathinaikos.

Club career

Van Drongelen is a youth exponent from Sparta Rotterdam. He made his team debut on 4 December 2015 against FC Volendam replacing Thomas Verhaar in extra time.

On 3 August 2017, Van Drongelen joined Bundesliga club Hamburger SV on a five-year deal. The transfer fee paid to Sparta Rotterdam was reported as €3 million.

On 15 June 2021, Van Drongelen signed with Union Berlin. On 31 January 2022, Van Drongelen was loaned to Mechelen until the end of the season. He made his debut for Mechelen on 6 February 2022, as an 87th-minute substitute in a 3–2 win over Beerschot.

On the morning of 4 May 2022, van Drongelen was involved in a car accident where his vehicle collided with another - the driver of the other vehicle, an 18-year old, died in the collision, whilst van Drongelen was hospitalised and released a day later.

On 11 July 2023, van Drongelen signed a three-year contract with Samsunspor in Turkey.

On 19 July 2026, he was signed by Greek side Panathinaikos for a fee of 4,8m euros and a 4 year contract expiring in 2030.

International career Van Drongelen played 18 games for the Netherlands national under-21 football team.

Career statistics

Honours Sparta Rotterdam Eerste Divisie: 2015–16