Wout François Maria Weghorst (born 7 August 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Turkish Süper Lig club Beşiktaş, on loan from EFL Championship club Burnley, and the Netherlands national team.
![]() Weghorst playing for VfL Wolfsburg in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
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Full name | Wout François Maria Weghorst[1] | ||
Date of birth | (1992-08-07) 7 August 1992 (age 30) | ||
Place of birth | Borne, Netherlands | ||
Height | 1.97 m (6 ft 6 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Striker | ||
Club information | |||
Current team |
Beşiktaş (on loan from Burnley) | ||
Number | 10 | ||
Youth career | |||
0000–2010 | NEO | ||
2010–2011 | DETO | ||
2011–2012 | Willem II | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2012–2014 | Emmen | 62 | (20) |
2014–2016 | Heracles Almelo | 64 | (20) |
2016–2018 | AZ | 60 | (31) |
2018–2022 | VfL Wolfsburg | 118 | (59) |
2022– | Burnley | 20 | (2) |
2022– | → Beşiktaş (loan) | 14 | (6) |
National team‡ | |||
2014 | Netherlands U21 | 1 | (1) |
2018– | Netherlands | 15 | (3) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:29, 5 November 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 22 September 2022 |
Born in Borne, Overijssel, Weghorst started his career with local clubs RKSV NEO and DETO Twenterand, before evoking interest from Eredivisie team Willem II. Despite having the opportunity to make his way into the first team, he never broke through and therefore signed for Eerste Divisie club FC Emmen.[3] He made his debut on 10 August 2012 in a match against Dordrecht, a match which ended 1–1. Weghorst would go on the score his first goal in professional football a month later, in the derby against Veendam, a match that ended in a 2–1 win for Emmen. He managed to play in 28 matches in his debut season, scoring 8 goals. After his spell with Emmen, Weghorst signed a contract with Eredivisie club Heracles Almelo on a free transfer.[4]
On 9 August, Weghorst made his Eredivisie debut for Heracles Almelo, in a 0–3 home loss against AZ Alkmaar in the Polman Stadion. He was a regular starter in his two years in Almelo. In the first season the club battled relegation from the Eredivisie, but his second season was more successful with Heracles ending in the sixth spot and, through the subsequent play-offs, the club qualified for the Europa League qualifying round – the first time in Heracles Almelo history that the club qualified for an international competition.[5]
After the successful season with Heracles, Weghorst signed a four-year contract with AZ Alkmaar in July 2016, with the option for an extra year.[6][7] On 24 November 2016 he scored his first European goal which proved to be the winning goal in a 0–1 win in a UEFA Europa League group match against Irish outfit Dundalk.[8]
He was appointed the season as vice-captain to Ron Vlaar.[9] Weghorst started the 2017–18 season with good form, displayed by 7 goals in his first 13 starts.[10] He continued that form and after scoring 20 goals in 29 appearances in all competitions, he earned his first full international call-up in Ronald Koeman's first Dutch squad in March 2018.[11]
He finished the season joint third top scorer in the Eredivisie with 18 goals with Steven Berghuis, both behind top scorer Alireza Jahanbakhsh (with 21) and runner up Bjørn Johnsen (with 19).[12] Weghorst also had 6 assists.[12]
On 26 June 2018, Weghorst signed a four-year contract with Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg.[13] On 16 March 2019, he scored his first hat-trick for Wolfsburg, and first by any player for the club since Mario Gómez in April 2017, in a 5–2 league win over Fortuna Düsseldorf.[14] He finished his first season in Germany with 17 goals, ranking joint-third in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts for the 2018–19 campaign.[15]
In the 2019–20 season, Weghorst produced another impressive goal return: netting 16 times in the league as Wolfsburg finished 6th.
Weghorst scored twice in the 2020–21 Europa League qualifying rounds, but Wolfsburg ultimately failed to qualify for the group stage, losing to Greek side AEK Athens in the playoff round.[16]
On 31 January 2022, Weghorst signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with Premier League side Burnley for a fee of £12 million.[17][18] Weghorst made his debut for the club on 5 February, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0-0 draw with Watford at Turf Moor.[19] He made his first goal contribution three days later in a 1-1 draw against Manchester United, assisting Jay Rodriguez for the equaliser. Weghorst scored his first goal for the club on 19 February in a 3-0 win against Brighton, helping to end an eleven game winless run for his new club.[20] His second Burnley goal would come on 17 April, in a 1-1 draw against West Ham United.[21]
On 5 July 2022, Weghorst moved to Süper Lig club Beşiktaş from Burnley on loan until the end of the 2022–23 season.[22] Weghorst made his Süper Lig debut at week 1 encounter against Kayserispor, which Beşiktaş secured a 1–0 home win, on 6 August 2022.[23] He scored his first league goal, the opening score of week 3 game against Karagümrük S.K., ended 4–1 for Beşiktaş, on 21 August 2022.[24]
Weghorst made his Netherlands U21 debut on 14 October 2014 and scored on his debut against Portugal U21 in a 5–4 defeat.[25]
He earned his first full international call-up in Ronald Koeman's first Dutch squad in March 2018.[26] He made his senior international debut in an international friendly against England on 23 March 2018 at the Amsterdam Arena.[27]
At 1.97 m, Weghorst has played as a centre-forward, with him being used in a 'target man' type role due to his ability to hold up the play and his heading ability. He is also renowned as a goal poacher with good reactive finishing in and around the box.[28][29]
Club | Season | League | National Cup[lower-alpha 1] | Europe | Other | Total | ||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
FC Emmen | 2012–13[30] | Eerste Divisie | 28 | 8 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 30 | 8 | ||
2013–14[30] | Eerste Divisie | 34 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 13 | |||
Total | 62 | 20 | 4 | 1 | — | — | 66 | 21 | ||||
Heracles Almelo | 2014–15[30] | Eredivisie | 31 | 8 | 3 | 1 | — | — | 34 | 9 | ||
2015–16[30] | Eredivisie | 33 | 12 | 2 | 1 | — | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 2 | 39 | 15 | ||
Total | 64 | 20 | 5 | 2 | — | 4 | 2 | 73 | 24 | |||
AZ | 2016–17[30] | Eredivisie | 29 | 13 | 4 | 0 | 12[lower-alpha 3] | 1 | 4[lower-alpha 2] | 4 | 49 | 18 |
2017–18[30] | Eredivisie | 31 | 18 | 6 | 9 | — | — | 37 | 27 | |||
Total | 60 | 31 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 86 | 45 | ||
VfL Wolfsburg | 2018–19[30] | Bundesliga | 34 | 17 | 2 | 1 | — | — | 36 | 18 | ||
2019–20[30] | Bundesliga | 32 | 16 | 2 | 2 | 9[lower-alpha 3] | 2 | — | 43 | 20 | ||
2020–21[30] | Bundesliga | 34 | 20 | 4 | 3 | 3[lower-alpha 3] | 2 | — | 41 | 25 | ||
2021–22[30] | Bundesliga | 18 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 5[lower-alpha 4] | 0 | — | 24 | 7 | ||
Total | 118 | 59 | 9 | 7 | 17 | 4 | — | 144 | 70 | |||
Burnley | 2021–22[30] | Premier League | 20 | 2 | — | — | — | 20 | 2 | |||
Beşiktaş (loan) | 2022–23[30] | Süper Lig | 13 | 6 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 14 | 6 | ||
Career total | 338 | 138 | 29 | 19 | 29 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 403 | 168 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
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Netherlands | 2018 | 3 | 0 |
2019 | 1 | 0 | |
2020 | 0 | 0 | |
2021 | 8 | 2 | |
2022 | 3 | 1 | |
Total | 15 | 3 |
No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
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1 | 6 June 2021 | De Grolsch Veste, Enschede, Netherlands | 6 | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–0 | Friendly |
2 | 13 June 2021 | Johan Cruyff Arena, Amsterdam, Netherlands | 7 | ![]() | 2–0 | 3–2 | UEFA Euro 2020 |
3 | 8 June 2022 | Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales | 13 | ![]() | 2–1 | 2–1 | 2022–23 UEFA Nations League A |
Beşiktaş J.K. – current squad | |
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Netherlands squads | |||||||||||||
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