Grot: Jay-Roy Jornell (Jay-Roy)

2017-Current (Leeds Player Details) (Player Details)

Striker

Born: Arnhem, Netherlands: 13-03-1998

Debut: Nottingham Forest (a): (Substitute) : 26-08-2017

6' 4" 14st 9lb (2017)

Born in the Netherlands of Surinamese descent, he started his football career with the youth team of Vitesse 1892 in his birthplace of Arnhem before progressing to ESA Rijkerswoerd, also in Arnhem, until he was taken by NEC (Nijmegan Eendracht Combinatie) into their academy at the age of ten. He spent seven years in the Academy before being introduced into the NEC first team early in the 2014-15 season and signed a three year contract with the club before the end of that season. His debut for the first team in the Eredivisie came in the 1-0 home win against Excelsior on 12th August 2015 when he replaced Christian Santos with four minutes left on the watch. Eleven days later he played the second half as the replacement for Kristjan Gauti Emilsson in the 0-2 home loss to Ajax. He started the visit to ADO Den Haag on 20th March 2016 but was replaced with twenty minutes to go by Marcel Ritzmaier and then on 1st May 2016 he again started in the visit to Roda JC Kerkrade and played fifty-seven minutes before making way for Mihai Roman. He had been in the squad for each of the final ten games of the season and came on as a substitute on six occasions, sat on the bench unused twice, and started twice, as he became an accepted member of the squad. This continued in the 2016- 17 season, but he had to endure being initially on the bench in nine of the first ten games, in which time he had only one substitute appearance which lasted one minute. However, by the end of the season he had started seventeen games, had come on as a substitute three times, and sat unused on the bench ten times in the Eredivisie, and, in a fine run of form had scored five goals. He had opened his account with a brace on 26th November 2016 in a 3-2 home win over FC Twente Enschede, when he started the game on the right wing and scored the first two goals of the game in the twenty- seventh and thirty-sixth minute, before being substituted by Ferdi Kadioglu in the sixty-sixth minute. Then there was a goal in consecutive games in which he played a full game. On 18th December 2016, in a game at Centre Forward in a 2-2 draw at Excelsior Rotterdam, he had made the score 1-1 four minutes before Half-Time and on 15th January 2017, starting on the Right Wing, he scored the only goal of the game at Willem II Tilburg in the seventy-sixth minute. His fifth came on 4th February 2017, in another full game at Centre Forward, when he got the only NEC goal in a 1-2 home defeat by Go Ahead Eagles Deventer, when he netted two minutes into injury time. He did also find the net once in four games in the Play-offs and once in four games in the Under-Twenty-Ones. The latter were in four full games at Centre Forward, with the goal coming in the thirty-sixth minute of a 5-2 home win over Fortuna Sittard U21 that made the score 3-0. The goal in the play- offs had come in the First Leg Semi-Final, in which he played a full game on the Right Wing, in a 3-1 win at FC Emmen, and he made the score 2-1 in the sixty-eighth minute. The other three games were all on the Right Wing in games that he started and was substituted late in each game. NEC were unable to stave off relegation from the Eredivisie. He had played just one game in the Jupiler League in the 2017-18 season. A full game on the Right Wing in a 3-1 home win over Almere City FC on 18th August 2017. With NEC Nijmegen he started nineteen and game off the bench in eleven first team games and scored five goals. He has represented Netherlands at Under-Seventeen, Under-Eighteen and Under-Nineteen. He first represented the Netherlands as an Under-Seventeen on 13th February 2015 in a 7-0 win over England at Estadio Municipal da Bela Vista, when he also opened his goal account, after coming on after sixty minutes as a replacement for Rashaan Fernandes, he was given twenty minutes and used it to good effect scoring in the seventieth minute to make the score 6-0. Two more appearances came in quick succession, he started two days later in a 0-1 defeat by Germany in which he started and played seventy minutes before being replaced by Rashaan Fernandes at Municipal de Lagos, and then, another two days later, he came on as a fifty-fourth minute substitute for Donyell Malen and in that twenty-six minutes he added a further goal to his tally when he scored the only goal of the game in a 1-0 win over Portugal at the Estrada da Nora. He then took his caps to six with three games in the UEFA European Under-Seventeen Championship qualification games. On 12th March 2015, he replaced Teun Bijleveld in the sixty-first minute at the Sportpark Zuideinderpark in a 2-0 win over Georgia. Two days later, he came on for Rashaan Fernandes in the sixty-ninth minute at the Sportpark Walburgen, in a 1-1 draw with Northern Ireland, and, on 17th March 2015, he played a full game at the Sportpark Zuideinderpark in a 0-0 draw with Belgium. He gained his seventh cap in a Friendly at Sportpark Mulderssingel, when he again played a full game, on 14th April 2015, in a 1-0 home win over Switzerland. He then took his total to ten, with three games in the 2015 European Under- Seventeen Championship, the first as a replacement for Rashaan Fernandes, after seventy minutes at Arena Sozopol, in a 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland. Three days later he started and played a full game at Stadion Beroein a 1-1 draw with England and similarly, on 13th May 2015 at Lazur, he again had a full game in a 1-1 draw with Italy in his final game as an Under-Seventeen. He started five and came on as a substitute on five occasions. He only made one appearance for the Netherlands Under-Eighteen team. It came on 24th March 2016 when he played the full game in a 0-2 defeat by Russia at the Sportpark Ter Specke in a Friendly. He had previously played at Under-Nineteen level, making his debut in a Friendly, on 3rd September 2015 as a Half-Time replacement for Steven Bergwijn, in a 0-0 draw with Italy at the Simonetta Lamberti. This was followed, four days later, by a 1-2 defeat at Sportpark Tijenraan by Germany in which he also was a replacement for Steven Bergwijn in the seventy-seventh minute. He then brought his total to six with four more caps in the European Under-Nineteen Championship 2017 in Georgia. There were three games in Group B and one in the Semi-Finals. On 3rd July 2017, he was an eighty-fifth minute Substitute for Ferdi Kadioglu at the David Petriashvili Stadium, Tbilisi, and he scored Netherlands fourth goal in the second minute of injury time in a 4-1 win over Germany. Three days later, he had almost a full game, when he was an eighth minute substitute for Joel Piroe at the Mikheil Meskhi Stadium, Tbilisi, as they were beaten 0-1 by England. In the final group B match on 9th July 2017, he started at Centre Forward, but was replaced, after sixty-six minutes by Che Nunnely, and a 1-1 draw with Bulgaria at the Tengiz Burjanadze Stadium, Gori was sufficient to see them through to the Semi-Finals. This took place on 12th July 2017 at the David Petriashvili Stadium, Tbilisi, and he was a seventy-eighth minute substitute for Che Nunnely as the Netherlands went down 0-1 to Portugal. On 24th August 2017 Leeds signed Grot on a four year contract and at an undisclosed fee thought to be in the region of £1.5 million. After making his debut on 26th August 2017, as a seventieth minute substitute for Pablo Hernandez in a 2-0 win at Nottingham Forest, there was little to show for his twenty minutes on the pitch and even though he went on to complete two hundred and ninety-five minutes in nineteen separate appearances in the Championship, the fans were underwhelmed by his presence, as one League start, on the Right Wing at Preston North End in a 1-3 defeat at Deepdale on 10th April 2018, when he was replaced by Alioski in the sixty-sixth minute, and two starts in low key League Cup ties and one in the F.A. Cup, would indicate. They came at Burnley on 19th September 2017 and at Leicester City on 24th October 2017 in the League Cup and at Newport County on 7th January 2018 in the F.A. Cup. He was replaced by Pierre-Michel La Sogga, after eighty-five minutes at Burnley, had a full game at Leicester, and Samu Saiz after seventy-four minutes at Newport. It was not until 17th March 2018 that he found the net for his only goal in the famous white shirt. It came just four minutes from the end of normal time in the home game with Sheffield Wednesday, and it looked as though it might have gained United a point, but the Owls netted the winner one minute into injury time. It had been a difficult time for the towering Dutchman with the physique and speed to terrorise opponents and the disappointment of the home fans were reflected in his being booed when he came from the bench in the home game with Norwich City on 16th December 2017. Whatever confidence he had, was guaranteed to disappear and he decided to go back to home ground and return to the Eredivisie. With new Leeds United manager Marcelo Bielsa already pretty much set on his main squad, it looked like more time on the sidelines for the Dutch youngster. However, the loan out the Dutch Eredivisie side VVV Venlo was likely the best move for both parties. So on 5th July 2018 the loan was approved. Despite the level of the opposition, Grot started hitting the net with regularity in pre-season. First up he scored twice against minnows Veritas in a 7-1 avalanche. This was followed by further minnows, SVEB, who conceded sixteen, with two more from Grot. Next came third tier de Treffers as the margin was reduced to 3-0, as Grot scored in the fifty-sixth minute to make it five goals in three games. His sixth goal in four games was against fellow Eredivisie side FC Twente. He scored in the twenty-first minute and hopefully his confidence had returned. He made his League debut for VVV Venlo on 11th August 2018 in a 1-0 win at Willem II, as a seventy-fourth minute substitute for Peter van Ooijen. He made his starting debut a week later in a 0-1 home defeat by Ajax and scored his first goal in the fifty-third minute, the third goal in a 3-0 home win over NAC Breda on 22nd September 2018. He has scored once in seven starts and one from the bench to date.

(To 2017-18)