Robin van Cruysen

Robin van Cruysen's path into professional football began with a setback. Ajax let him go from their academy as a boy, considering him too light for the physical demands the club expected. Rather than end there, he spent a season with amateur side AFC Amsterdam before joining the FC Volendam academy in 2016.

He stayed with Volendam through the youth ranks for nearly a decade, working his way up the age groups before signing his first professional contract while still playing for the club's under-19 side. The move to first-team football came in September 2025, when he made his senior debut for Volendam as an attacking midfielder.

Less than a year later, in July 2026, van Cruysen left as a free agent for Sparta Rotterdam, signing a contract that runs until 2030. Sparta's own fanzine, ITWM.nl, described the arrival as a "not insignificant" addition to the squad, a notable line given he arrived without a transfer fee attached.

The switch closed a long chapter at Volendam that had begun after his release from Ajax, and opened a new one at a club prepared to commit to him for four seasons.