His dad played for Barcelona, AC Milan and Ajax and won the UEFA Champions League, the legendary Francesco Totti convinced his parents to allow him to join Roma, and he has already played in four countries in a fledgling career with France the latest — ligue1.com focusses on Justin Kluivert, who is now making a (first) name for himself at Nice.
Back story
When you're the grandson and son of a player — his grandfather Kenneth played for Surinam, his dad, Patrick, won the UEFA Champions League with Ajax and played for some of Europe's biggest clubs — what else are you doing to do? "I'm proud of carrying this surname; my ambition is to make it even more famous," said Justin in an interview. "That’s what I’m doing now."
WATCH: Justin Kluivert nets Nice's winner against Angers
His dad also featured for Barcelona, AC Milan, Newcastle United, Valencia and PSV Eindhoven before wrapping up his playing career at Lille in 2007/08, but his story started in Amsterdam, as did Justin's. He was only eight when he joined the Ajax academy, and progressed through to make his first team debut in mid-January 2017. After 13 goals and 10 assists in 56 competitive outings, there was a call from Roma legend Francesco Totti to Justin's father that helped seal a move to the Italian giants in June 2018.
He went on to become the giallorossi's youngest UEFA Champions League goalscorer, one of nine strikes he made in 68 competitive games for them before joining RB Leipzig on loan for the 2020/21 season. He netted in a Champions League group stage win over Manchester United — knocking the English club out and ensuring his team's progress — but only made nine starts in 27 matches for the Bundesliga outfit, scoring four times. He's already found the net more in a shorter period at Nice, and is enjoying one of the most successful seasons of his fledgling career on the Côte d'Azur.
Style of play
Kluivert isn't a centre-forward like his dad with making as well as taking goals part of his baggage. “I’m smaller, quicker and more mobile than my father. Besides scoring I always look to give an assist," says Justin, who gets plenty of advice from his famous father but models himself on a more recent great of the game, Cristiano Ronaldo.
"He plays in the same position. I really admire his skills but also his mentality, in the way that he truly lives for football, even at his age and having achieved so much. I saw the documentary about him and thought: ‘I want to be like him.’"
He also carries off a mean set-piece, and is not one for fancy flicks or — despite his nationality — Cruyff turns. "I just take the shortcut to the goal and I am more a team player. My dad tells me to be sometimes more selfish in front of the goal."
Current campaign
Perhaps he has heeded his dad's suggestion: Kluivert's three goals in his first 15 Ligue 1 Uber Eats appearances of the season mean he is just one short of his career-best tally for an entire campaign in one of Europe's top five leagues.
He surely would have had more had he been able to settle in more quickly, but a hamstring injury sidelined him for some six weeks between late September and early November. Since the turn of the year, however, he has started to show his potential, netting three times and providing two assists in seven matches with a tactical tweak from coach Christophe Galtier bearing fruit.
"I took the decision to put him on the right for a reason. I knew he'd get more assists there," said the Nice boss after watching Kluivert score twice and set up another in his team's 4-1 Coupe de France quarter-final defeat of Marseille.
Did you know?
When he joined Roma, Kluivert initially chose the number 34 shirt in tribute to former Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri, who suffred a career-ending cardiac incident in 2017, before then switching to 99, the year of his birth.
What he said
"Being [Patrick Kluivert's] son draws a lot of attention and expectation. It puts pressure on me but luckily I’m never nervous. Well, only when I took my second exam to get my driver’s licence. But never when I play football."
What they said
"He's got quite a shot on him, you saw that this evening." Nice teammate Andy Delort after Kluivert's blockbuster strike against Marseille in Nice's Coupe de France quarter-final win
"He's insouciant, and we need insouciance. He likes to play with the ball, he works hard with the team. He's created goals, he contributes penetration, dribbles, he's got that instinct." Christophe Galtier
"I'm happy when he's happy, and that's the case now." Patrick Kluivert in January, 2022
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