Khalid Boulahrouz

After a difficult period playing for different clubs, he finally found some stability at Waalwijk, where coach Martin Jol gave him the confidence he had been looking for.[6] He began his professional career in the Dutch Eredivisie for RKC on 9 March 2002, against Heerenveen.

After playing two seasons for RKC he moved to Hamburg to play in the German Bundesliga at the start of the 2004–05 season. While at Hamburg, he earned his nickname "Khalid der Kannibale" ("Khalid the Cannibal") for his ability to eat up the opposition.[4] This is illustrated by the number of cards he received – 16 yellows and three reds in two seasons at the club. He was also part of a defence that conceded the fewest goals in the 2005–06 Bundesliga season: 30 goals in 34 games.[12]

Boulahrouz with Chelsea

On 18 August 2006, Chelsea agreed a fee with Hamburg to sign Boulahrouz. The fee was thought to be around £8.5 million (€12 million).[13] After Chelsea's opening game of the 2006–07 season, manager José Mourinho confirmed that the club had signed Boulahrouz and the club but was waiting for his international clearance to be finalised,[14] before speaking of the potential roles Boulahrouz will have in the side. Mourinho stated "In a short squad and in a country where you can have only 16 players for a match, it’s important to have cover for many positions. So, for example, now I can have [Khalid] Boulahrouz, Ricardo [Carvalho] and John [Terry] — three options for the centre; I can have Paulo [Ferreira] and Boulahrouz – two options for the right side; I can have Boulahrouz and Wayne Bridge — two options for the left side."[14]

On 21 August 2006, Chelsea completed the signing of Boulahrouz. Six days later, he was handed his Premiership début against Blackburn Rovers. He wore the number 9 shirt, previously occupied by Hernán Crespo – this is an unconventional number for a defender, being traditionally associated with strikers, but was given to him just because it happened to be one of the numbers not currently allocated to a player by Chelsea at the time of signing.

Boulahrouz made a promising start to his Chelsea career, featuring prominently in high-profile games against Liverpool and Barcelona. However, Boulahrouz gradually dropped out of favour. Boulahrouz was out for a lengthy period of time after a knee injury, followed by a shoulder injury while playing in an FA Cup tie against Norwich City.

Boulahrouz eventually dropped out of contention as the season wound down, with John Terry and Ricardo Carvalho as the first-choice defensive pairing. When Carvalho was injured, manager Mourinho paired Terry with Ghanaian midfielder Michael Essien.

Boulahrouz joined Spanish club Sevilla on a year-long loan for the 2007–08 season.[15] However, he played just six games for them and was deemed surplus to requirements. He returned to Chelsea in 2008 but was not given a squad number and made no appearances.

On 21 July 2008, Boulahrouz moved to VfB Stuttgart for a fee of around €5 million.[16][17] He struggled in his first three seasons. Early in the 2011–12 Bundesliga season, however, Khalid became a regular in the starting line-up. The 29-year-old defender had his 100th cap in the top German league on 17 September 2011 at SC Freiburg. Two weeks later, Boulahrouz scored his first goal (only his second in the Bundesliga) for Stuttgart on 30 September 2011.[18] His goal came in the 69th minute of a 2–0 win over 1. FC Kaiserslautern.

In May 2012 VfB Stuttgart announced that his expiring contract would not be extended.[19]

On 18 July 2012, Boulahrouz signed a two-year contract with Sporting Clube de Portugal.[20] He made 11 league appearances for the club, and on 3 September 2013 his contract was terminated.[21]

On 7 October 2013, Boulahrouz signed a contract which is due until the summer 2014.[22] The transfer was confirmed after many weeks of negotiating. He made 13 league appearances for Brøndby IF that season. Boulahrouz had quite a lot of injuries during his stay at Brøndby, which was one of the reasons why a new contract was not discussed.[23]

On 14 July 2014, it was officially announced that Boulahrouz had signed a one-year contract with Feyenoord on a free transfer.[24] He was one of the replacements for outgoing defenders Stefan de Vrij, Daryl Janmaat and Bruno Martins Indi after their performances for the Netherlands at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. On 11 February 2016, more than half a year after his contract with Feyenoord had expired, Boulahrouz announced his retirement from professional football.[25]

Boulahrouz was included in the preliminary squad for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.[26] On 27 May 2010, coach Bert van Marwijk announced that Boulahrouz would be part of the final 23-man squad.[27] Boulahrouz started in the Netherlands' last group match on 24 June, a 2–1 win over Cameroon, in place of Gregory van der Wiel.[28] He also played in the semi-final match against Uruguay.