Arjen Robben, 36, comes out of retirement to make ‘dream’ transfer back to boyhood club Groningen after fan pleas
ARJEN ROBBEN has sensationally come out of retirement to make an emotional return to boyhood club FC Groningen.
The former Chelsea star retired last summer after ten trophy-laden seasons with Bayern Munich.
BREAKING
ARJEN ROBBEN MAAKT COMEBACK BIJ FC GRONINGEN!
#Arjenvolgjehart#laatonsweereensjuichen pic.twitter.com/QHIkzbZojM
— FC Groningen (@fcgroningen) June 27, 2020
But the 36-year-old spoke in a video on Twitter to reveal he is making a shock return to his boyhood club, after being persuaded into the emotional move by his wife Bernadien.
Robben came up through the youth teams at Groningen before playing two seasons from 2000-2002 in the first-team before joining Dutch giants PSV.
In the clip shared by the Dutch team, Robben says: “Dear football friends and FC Groningen fans.
“I was 12 years old when I started playing in FC Groningen’s youth academy.
“I made my home debut against Feyenoord when I was 16.
“After two years I made a transfer to PSV Eindhoven.
“After a wonderful adventure of 18 years, we’re coming home.
“We’re coming home in this difficult time of crisis, one that also hits FC Groningen.
“It’s great to see how everyone supporting the club, I’ve supported the club as well.
“It made me think about what else I could do for our club.
“These past few weeks I’ve had many conversations with club staff and maybe more than anything I’ve listen to the call of our supporters.
“A comeback as an FC Groningen player, I started to play with this idea and now I’ve made it my mission!
“I want to make my comeback as a football player, a player of FC Groningen.”
Robben goes on to say how the return to top-flight football will be a “tough physical challenge” but he is adamant he will be in for the first training session for the new season.
Robben became a fans’ favourite at Chelsea when he joined from PSV in 2002 for £12.1m.
Roman Abramovich sneaked in to outbid Manchester United who thought they had got their man only for him to head to West London.
He went on to win back-to-back Premier League titles with the Blues.
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He went on to enjoy decent spells with Real Madrid and finally Bayern Munich.
In Germany he won the Bundesliga eight times as well as the German Cup five times.
He also won 96 caps for Holland, scoring 37 times.
