Wouter Burger
CDMCM
Netherlands25 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
CDM
Defensive midfieldMain
3,987 min · 49 apps · 46 starts
CM
Central midfield
1,838 min · 23 apps · 23 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at 1899 Hoffenheim · independent of the season filter
Important
Involvement86%
Performance49%
Through the match on 5 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Wouter Burger is a Dutch midfielder who connects ball-winning to the next pass. His height helps him compete for loose balls, but his game is not limited to shielding the defence: his passing can move play across the pitch, and his left foot can support attacks. That combination lets him work as a deeper midfielder or as a link between the back line and forwards.
Burger developed in Feyenoord’s academy and was already shaping games for the Netherlands at youth level. In the 2018 European Under-17 Championship final, he played diagonal passes from central midfield. He started against Italy as the Dutch side won the title on penalties, and UEFA selected him among the tournament’s defensive midfielders.
After loans to Excelsior and Sparta Rotterdam, Burger moved to FC Basel in August 2021. The Swiss club gave him a route into European knockout football. He started both legs of Basel’s 2023 Europa Conference League semi-final against Fiorentina, a tie Basel lost in extra time despite winning the first leg in Florence.
He then spent two seasons with Stoke City in England’s Championship before joining Hoffenheim in July 2025. The move brought his defensive duels and passing range into the Bundesliga. Hoffenheim’s sporting director highlighted both his ability to compete physically and the attacking use of his left foot; the combination matters because regaining possession is more valuable when a midfielder can also start the next phase.
A November 2025 win at Wolfsburg supplied a vivid example of his forward contribution. Burger scored twice with first-time finishes, first meeting a low cross and later turning in a delivery from Grischa Prömel. Those goals were striking for a central midfielder, but his wider work across the pitch mattered as much as his movement into the box.
By the end of his first Hoffenheim season, he had become an established starter. An August 2026 Bundesliga team analysis placed him between a more defensive midfielder and the attack, a role that asks for timing as much as strength: he has to offer a forward pass without leaving the centre exposed. Screening, distribution and attacking arrivals are the thread linking his career from Feyenoord’s youth teams through Switzerland and England.