Bergkamp was brought up through Ajax’s youth system, joining the club at age 11, and in later seasons, established himself as a first-team player.
This culminated in a period of success for the club, which won the Eredivisie title in the 1989–90 season for the first time in five years.
In total, he scored 122 goals in 239 games for his hometown club.
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Bergkamp attracted the attention of several European clubs as a result of his performances for Ajax and on 16 February 1993, Bergkamp agreed a £7.1 million move to Internazionale, where he had two disappointing seasons(only managing 11 goals in 52 appearances).
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Bergkamp left Inter and signed with Arsenal in June 1995 for a transfer fee estimated at £7.5 million. He became manager Bruce Rioch’s first signing at Arsenal and broke the club’s transfer fee record set at £2.5 million. Bergkamp’s arrival at the club was significant not only because he was an established international footballer who looked to have his best years ahead of him but also because he was a major contributor to Arsenal’s return to success after much decline in the mid-1990s.
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The appointment of Arsène Wenger as Arsenal manager in September 1996 marked a turning point in Bergkamp’s career. Wenger, who had moderate success coaching in France and Japan, recognised Bergkamp’s talent and wanted to use him as a fulcrum of the team’s forward play.
Despite making fewer appearances in the 1996–97 season, Bergkamp was more influential in the first team, creating 13 assists.
Bergkamp was instrumental the following season in helping Arsenal complete a domestic league and cup double. He became the club’s top scorer with 22 goals and recorded a strike rate of 0.57. Arsenal’s achievement was all the more astonishing given that the team, written off by many in December 1997, had made ground on reigning Premier League champions Manchester United.
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Bergkamp reached a personal landmark during the 2002–03 season, scoring his 100th goal for Arsenal against Oxford United in a FA Cup third-round tie on 4 January 2003.
The 2003–04 season ended on a high point for Bergkamp as Arsenal reclaimed the league title, becoming the first English team in more than a century to go through the entire domestic league season unbeaten.
The team finished fourth in the league in Bergkamp’s final season at Arsenal. After much campaigning from Arsenal supporters, the club designated one of its Highbury matchday themes, organised to commemorate the stadium’s final season as home of Arsenal, to Dennis Bergkamp. “Bergkamp Day” took place on 15 April 2006 and saw Arsenal up against West Bromwich Albion. It celebrated the player’s contribution to Arsenal; fans were given commemorative orange ‘DB10’ T-shirts – the colour of his national team, his initials and his squad number.
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Bergkamp was the focus of the first match at Arsenal’s new ground, the Emirates Stadium. On 22 July 2006, a testimonial was played in his honour at the new stadium as Arsenal played his old club Ajax. Bergkamp kicked off the match with his father, Wim, and son, Mitchel. All four children acted as the match’s mascots. The first half was played by members of Arsenal and Ajax’s current squads, while the second was played by famous ex-players from both sides, including Ian Wright, Vieira, Overmars, Petit and David Seaman for Arsenal, and Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Danny Blind, Frank and Ronald de Boer for Ajax. Arsenal won the match 2–1 with goals from Henry and Nwankwo Kanu. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had earlier opened the scoring for Ajax, making him the first goalscorer at the Emirates Stadium.
In April 2008, he began a fast-track coaching diploma for former Dutch international footballers and undertook a trainee role at Ajax. Having completed the Coach Betaald Voetbal course by the KNVB, Bergkamp was appointed assistant to Johan Neeskens for the newly formed Netherlands B team on 26 October 2008.
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As of August 2011, Bergkamp has been De Boer’s assistant at Ajax.
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In February 2014, Arsenal unveiled a statue of Bergkamp outside the Emirates Stadium to honour his time at the club.
[Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dennis_Bergkamp]
[Source: http://www.fourfourtwo.com/features/dennis-bergkamp-one-one]
[Source: http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/turn-highbury-orange-for-dennis-bergkand-day-]
[Images: Google]
