The Netherlands first met Weghorst at FC Emmen twelve years ago. The striker joined Emmen in the summer of 2012 from Willem II's reserves and debuted for the team in August against FC Dordrecht. A month later, he scored his first goal in professional football against the now-bankrupt BV Veendam.
More goals in fewer minutes
In his debut season, Weghorst scored eight goals in 28 matches. He played a role in nearly thirty per cent of Emmen's goals in that first year. A year later, he had 300 fewer minutes to prove himself as a striker in the Eerste Divisie, but he still managed to score twelve goals (four more), three of which were headers.
After two years at Emmen, Weghorst transferred as a free agent to Heracles in the summer. An interesting detail: he scored his first goal for the Almelo team against Ajax at the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Ajax won that game with 2-1 on September 13, 2014, thanks to two goals from Arek Milik. In 64 Eredivisie matches for Heracles, the striker ultimately scored 20 goals. His performance as a lead attacker at Heracles caught the attention of Alkmaar. AZ signed the striker two years after his debut.
In Alkmaar, he steadily increased his goal tally in the Eredivisie. In the over 2,000 minutes he played during his first season for AZ in the national competition, he scored thirteen goals, two of which were headers. The striker proved to be a stable presence up front, with 79 per cent of his passes in the final third reaching their target.
A year later, he scored eighteen goals in the Eredivisie over 2,762 minutes in 31 matches. He played almost every game for the full ninety minutes, only being substituted in one match. Over those 31 games, his pass accuracy was 77 percent.
Top scorer in Dutch Cup
Weghorst also had a standout season in the Dutch Cup in 2017/2018. He scored nine goals in six matches, making him the tournament’s top scorer. AZ reached the final but lost against Feyenoord. Weghorst scored twice in the quarterfinal against PEC Zwolle (4-1) and once in the semifinal against FC Twente: 4-0.
This earned the 1.97-meter-tall striker a transfer to Germany’s VfL Wolfsburg. In the Bundesliga, he continued doing what he loved most: scoring goals. Once again, his total in the Bundesliga approached twenty. In his first season at Wolfsburg, Weghorst scored seventeen goals and provided seven assists in 34 matches. Of his sixty attempts on goal, seventeen led to success. Thanks in part to his goals, Wolfsburg qualified for the UEFA Europa League in the 2019/2020 season.
Scoring for the Dutch national team
Weghorst performed well in Germany, catching the eye of national team coach Frank de Boer, who selected him for the European Championship. The tournament took place in 2021 after the original event in 2020 was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In the lead-up to the European Championship, Weghorst scored his first goal for the Netherlands in a friendly against Georgia, securing a 2-0 win for the Dutch.
Meanwhile, he continued scoring in Germany. In the season that concluded with the European Championship, Weghorst netted twenty goals and provided eight assists in 34 Bundesliga matches. Five of his goals came from headers. He did not finish the 2021/2022 season in Germany, however.
After his goal-rich period in Germany, Weghorst moved to the Premier League in early 2022, joining Burnley. He played almost twenty matches there, scoring twice (against Brighton & Hove Albion and West Ham United) before leaving for Besiktas on loan in the summer of 2022.
One in two in Turkey
His time in Turkey was short, lasting only half a season, but his statistics were noteworthy. Weghorst scored nine times in eighteen matches, averaging one goal every two games. He also provided four assists. Looking at his sixteen matches in the Turkish Süper Lig, he started all sixteen and only left the field early twice. Three of his eight league goals (he scored one more in the cup) were headers.
In his league matches, he had a pass accuracy of 71 per cent, won about half of his aerial duels, and made more than half (55 per cent) of his passes forward. In sixteen league matches, Weghorst, as a striker, also provided eleven key passes.
Manchester United
Weghorst soon left Turkey to return to England. Burnley loaned him out again in early 2023 for half a season to Manchester United under Erik ten Hag. At the English club, Weghorst scored twice and provided three assists, including one to Marcus Rashford in the League Cup final (a 2-0 win over Newcastle United).
In Manchester, he played a total of 31 official matches: seventeen in the Premier League, six in the UEFA Europa League, five in the FA Cup, and three in the League Cup. He played almost nine hundred minutes in the Premier League and started ten matches. His pass completion rate was 77 per cent, and his final third pass accuracy was 75 per cent. In Europe, he started four times and scored once: at home against Real Betis during the 4-1 victory in the round of 16.
Return to Germany
In the summer of 2023, Weghorst was loaned out again, this time for a season to Germany’s TSG Hoffenheim. In 28 Bundesliga matches, the striker scored seven goals and provided three assists. He only started on the bench four times and played over 2,000 minutes at the highest level in Germany. Weghorst produced 35 shots, 27 of which were inside the penalty area and eight from outside.
Of his seven goals for Hoffenheim, two were headers, and one was from the penalty spot. In his Bundesliga matches, Weghorst also made 33 key actions. Additionally, he delivered 184 completed passes in the final third, with an accuracy rate of 75 per cent. Seventy-three per cent of his passes in the opponent's half found their target. Finally, at his last club before joining Ajax, Weghorst won the ball 26 times.
