SCRAPPER TO RAPPER
Midfield star Drenthe quits football and releases his first album as Roya2Faces...
2005–2007: Feyenoord 2007–2012: Real Madrid 2010–2011: Hercules (loan) 2011–2012: Everton (loan) 2012–2013: A Vladikavkaz 2013–2015: Reading 2014–2015: Sheff Weds (loan) 2015: Kayseri Erciyesspor 2015–2016: Baniyas
La Liga: 2007–08 ROYSTON DRENTHE, the Dutchman who became notorious for leading a rock ‘n’ roll lifestyle when he played for Real Madrid and Everton, has quit football – to pursue a career as a rapper.
The party-loving 29-year-old hasn’t kicked a ball in anger since walking out on Abu Dhabi-based Baniyas over a pay dispute last summer.
But he insists he has now turned his back on the game for good as he looks to take on Drake, Jay Z and Kanye West at the top of the hip-hop charts.
Drenthe has adopted the stage name ‘Roya2Faces’ and his first single – called ‘Paranoia’ – is ready to be released.
The track namechecks Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Jaap Stam.
And Drenthe’s warning that he will continue to use his experiences in football to express himself in his new vocation might even catch the ear of Jose Mourinho. Drenthe fell out spectacularly with the Manchester United boss when he played under him at Madrid.
After becoming angry with the winger’s poor discipline, Mourinho packed him of f on-loan to Hercules, who were struggling at the bottom of La Liga. It didn’t go well.
Drenthe explained: “Mourinho was a bit p***ed off when I came back to Real.
“Hercules did not pay my wages and I went on strike. But Mourinho said I should have represented Real Madrid much better.
“I tried to become a star in Madrid and people should have respect for me because I tried. But Mourinho made me out to be a difficult guy.
“I did not have a good relationship with him, but he forgets that I was not getting my wages at the loan club.”
Yet when Drenthe moved to the Bernabeu from Feyenoord in 2007 for £11million, he was regarded as one of the hottest young talents in football.
Real allowed him to join Everton in 2011 on a 12-month loan deal, but he was left out of the Toffees’ FA Cup semi-final squad to face Liverpool and told to stay away from the club after repeatedly turning up late for training. Drenthe later blamed David Moyes’ failure to understand that he was suffering from anxiety attacks.
After spending a year in Russia with Spartak Vladikavkaz, the Dutchman then returned to England with Reading in 2013 – only for the Royals to send him to Sheffield Wednesday on loan.
His downfall continued with a short stint in Turkey before his ill-fated move to the Middle East.
He said: “I have ended my career. I am no longer a footballer. I am fed up with all the stuff in the football world. “