Ryan Babel

Ryan Babel was a winger who played for Fulham in 2019. A player who has made over 50 international appearances for the Netherlands, he is equally threatening from either flank and is also capable of playing centre forward if necessary. He was signed in January 2019 from Beşiktaş on a short term deal.

Before Fulham
Born in Amsterdam, Ryan grew up playing for the youth teams of SV Diemen and ASV Fortius. In 1998 at the age of 11, he was signed by Ajax. Here, he progressed through the academy until he signed his first professional contract in January 2004, shortly after his 17th birthday.

On 1 February 2004, Ryan made his debut for Ajax's first team, playing as a striker in a 4-0 win over ADO Den Haag. He did not become a first team regular until the following season, in 2004-05. After three seasons in the first team, he attracted much attention amongst the top clubs in Europe, and he signed for Liverpool on 13 July 2007 for a fee thought to be in the region of £11.5 million.

He spent over three seasons at Anfield, amassing 146 appearances in all competitions, scoring 22 goals. He later signed for Bundesliga side Hoffenheim in January 2011, before returning to his first club Ajax for the 2012-13 season.

After two years at Kasımpaşa in the Turkish Super Lig, he had short stints at Al Ain and Deportivo La Coruña before returning to Turkey, this time to Beşiktaş, where he would help win the national title with in the 2016-17 season.

Fulham (2019)
Ryan signed for Fulham on 15 January 2019 during a troublesome 2018-19 season. He joined on a short term deal which would see him out until the end of the season. He impressed in what was a poor Fulham team, and though he scored 5 goals in 16 appearances, it was not enough to keep the team up and Ryan left the club at the end of the campaign.

After Fulham
Ryan signed for Turkish club Galatasaray on a free transfer on 1 July 2019.