Kluivert reveals Xavi's thorough character check before Netherlands recall

Kluivert reveals Xavi thoroughly vetted his character before recalling him to the Netherlands squad, speaking with his former coaches.

Justin Kluivert has returned to the Netherlands squad under new manager Xavi Hernández and disclosed that the Catalan coach conducted a thorough character assessment before calling him up. Xavi, who was a teammate of Kluivert's father Patrick at Barcelona, spoke with the Bournemouth midfielder's former coaches to understand what he was dealing with.

Kluivert explained: "He wants to know who he's dealing with, so he spoke with my former coaches. Fortunately, those coaches had a good opinion of me, so it worked out well. I hope Xavi will have one too over time. I've also heard he watches a lot of matches. He's really involved, that's his motivation and I think we need that."

The 27-year-old has earned 14 caps for the Netherlands since his 2018 debut but has yet to score. He reflected on missing a penalty in the 2026 World Cup round-of-16 against Morocco, saying it "ate away at me". Kluivert has previously played for Ajax, Roma, Leipzig, Nice and Valencia before joining Bournemouth.