On 25th July 2014, Sunderland signed full back Patrick Van Aanholt from Chelsea for a fee believed to be in the region of one to two million pounds. PVA would prove himself as a fan’s favourite and a player who was both entertaining and pivotal to the structure of Sunderland’s XI towards the climax of their Premier League era.
Patrick was a product of Chelsea’s youth ranks, joining the Blue’s in 2007. He made his professional debut for Coventry City whilst on loan in a 2-1 win against Ipswich Town in 2009. PVA spent a lot of his early career on loan at a variety of clubs: Coventry City, Leicester City, Wigan Athletic, some small club in Tyneside and Eredivisie side Vitesse where Van Aanholt featured in a 2-6 away win at Dutch Giants PSV Eindhoven, scoring Vitesse’s fifth goal of the game. His time on Tyneside was very short, with the Mags acquiring his services on a month-long loan to cover for usual full-back Jose Enrique, who was nursing a mild injury.
After several successful loan spells, Van Aanholt had established himself as more than just a rotation player. When the offer came in from Sunderland, it made perfect sense for him to join the Lads. Van Aanholt netted his first goal for Sunderland in a 1-0 win against Leeds United, in the FA Cup, upon his return from injury in January 2015. PVA scored 8 times for Sunderland, a personal favourite of mine (and everyone else's) being the 25-yard free kick to open the scoring in a 3-0 win against Everton. His ability to shuttle up and down the flanks and influence play was unmatched in the team at that time, his ability to cross the ball was even more impressive.
He renewed his contract in 2016, keeping him at the club for another 4 years. But it’s no shock that he departed from SAFC when an offer of £9 million, rising to £14 million was proposed by Crystal Palace in 2017. His best days certainly came at Sunderland, where he was one of the stars. He then started slipping away from the limelight at Selhurst Park and eventually looked elsewhere.
His international career never sparked, starting only a handful of the 13 international games he appeared in for the Netherlands. He most notably featured in an international friendly under boss Ronald Koeman against England in 2018. As the games he featured in were deemed non-competitive being friendlies, he was eligible for selection for Curaçao, the homeland of his parents. He was chosen for the side in 2018 but didn’t feature in any of their fixtures.
Today, Patrick plays his football in the Turkish Super Lig, for Turkish Giants Galatasaray, having made 40 appearances over a year and cementing himself as a solid member of the squad. It's great to see one of the former lad’s doing well and we wish him all the best- Oh Patrick Van Aanholt!
