Chelsea Football Club is delighted to announce Marco van Ginkel today (Friday) completed his transfer from Vitesse Arnhem.
The Dutch international midfielder signed a five-year contract, and said: ‘I’m very happy to be here at such a nice club with great players. I am really happy, the stadium is good and the training ground is fantastic.
‘I know about all the players and will meet them on Monday. I expect a lot, I’ve watched matches and it’s really nice to be here.’
Chelsea will be the second professional club of Van Ginkel’s career, the 20-year-old having come through the youth system at Vitesse Arnhem before making his debut in the Dutch top flight near the end of the 2009/10 season, aged 17.
He played his first full international for the Netherlands in November and represented his country at the European Under-21 Championships in Israel last month.
He was named Dutch Talent of the Year for last season, awarded to the best young player, joining a list which includes former Chelsea players Arjen Robben, Salomon Kalou and Boudewijn Zenden.
Van Ginkel made one start and three substitute appearances for Vitesse in the 2009/10 season, with six starts and a further 11 appearances from the bench in 2010/11. His first game that season was away at Ajax where he scored his first senior goal, adding four more before the end of the campaign.
By 2011/12 the young player was a regular in the side, starting in 36 of his 38 games and finding the net six times, nearly doubling that total to 11 goals last season, scored from 41 appearances.
Vitesse finished in fourth position in the Dutch league behind the traditional big three of Ajax, PSV and Feyenoord, therefore qualifying for the Europa League.
Van Ginkel, who is 6ft 1in tall (1.86m) has built a reputation for good energy, ball control and passing in central midfield, both as an attacking force or in a more defensive role such as he was given in the Under-21 Euros this summer. The Netherlands went out at the semi-final stage, defeated 1-0 by Italy.
In total, Van Ginkel has played 14 Under-21 internationals, scoring three goals, having also represented his country at Under-19 level.
His full international cap was earned when he came on after 59 minutes of a 0-0 draw against Germany in a friendly.
Marco’s first interview with Chelsea TV will be available to view online.