NETHERLANDS-- Arjen Robben is seeking to make a sensational comeback to professional soccer after signing with his boyhood club FC Groningen for the 2020-21 season, the Dutch Eredivisie side said on Saturday.
Robben, 36, retired last year after winning his eighth Bundesliga title with Bayern Munich, but will now return to Groningen, where he made his professional debut as a 16-year-old in 2000.
FC Groningen used the example of Michael Jordan's basketball comeback in their bid to persuade Dutch international to return to his first club.
Groningen played Robben clips from the Jordan documentary "Last Dance" along with images of his own glittering career to coax the 36-year-old back 12 months after he left Bayern Munich and announced his retirement.
“We first went to Munich to speak to him about coming to play for us, just days after he retired in May last year,” Groningen technical director Mark-Jan Fledderus told a news conference on Sunday after Robben signed a one-year contract with the club.
“That didn’t happen. But we kept up contact and then arranged secretly with his wife to travel down and talk to him again last month.”
The former Netherlands international, who has also played for Chelsea, PSV Eindhoven and Real Madrid, has won 12 league titles in a glittering career, and 96 caps for his country including playing in the 2010 World Cup final in Johannesburg.
Groningen confirmed Robben has been back in training for the past few weeks in order to be ready for the next season and Robben told the club's website the potential of a comeback had been on the cards for some time now.
"In recent weeks I have had many discussions with people within the club, but perhaps I listened most to the words of the supporters, who said: 'Arjen, follow your heart!'
“The difference in the standard between Bayern and Groningen is naturally a lot different but I’m here to help the club,” Robben said.
“You do that by showing the right attitude. I don’t have anything to lose and I’m going into the challenge with a positive attitude and to try and make the best of it. I haven’t set any goals, it could be over in a month or it could last two years."
Robben was happy his wife Bernadien was in favour of his comeback.
“It made the decision a lot easier knowing I had the support of my family," he said. "Retiring was the toughest decision of my career, maybe a little forced upon me with all the injuries.
“We decided to stay a year in Munich to enjoy the city and get used to the idea of not playing football. I didn’t watch much for about six months and really enjoyed doing other things.
“But eventually the sports lover in you start to nag and I had been training to run the Rotterdam Marathon before the coronavirus crisis.”
Jordan won three NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls before quitting to play baseball. He returned to Chicago and led them to three more NBA crowns.
"It started as an itch and now it's become my mission. I'm working on a comeback as a footballer," he said.
But Robben admitted he was not sure whether he can still do it. "I don't know yet whether this will work. What I do know is that it will not depend on my commitment and motivation. It is now my dream to play in the shirt of FC Groningen again," he said.
More details are expected at a news conference, planned by the club for Sunday.
The Dutch season is set to start on Sept. 12, giving Robben more than two months of training.
