Steven Defour (born 15 April 1988) is a Belgian footballer who plays as a midfielder for Standard Liège.
Career
Racing Genk
Defour had been with KV Mechelen since 2002. But when that team went bankrupt he was part of a mass exodus of young talent from the club. Steven Defour went to Racing Genk (together with future Genk players Marvin Ogunjimi, David Hubert & Anthony Limbombe). His Genk was as a substitute in the 2004–05 season but his big breakthrough was to be in the next season, when the 17 year old showed himself to be a playmaker in midfield with his passing ability. Defour wanted to leave for Ajax soon after, but Genk refused the transfer. After a drawn-out period of negotiations he eventually signed a contract for Standard.
Standard Liège
Defour signed a 5-year deal with Standard, and played alongside Portuguese star Sérgio Conceição and Croatian international Milan Rapaić in the 2006–07 season. At the start of the 2007-08 season Standard chose Defour as their captain despite only being 19 years old.
During the 2007–08 season Defour received the Golden Shoe, the official award for most valuable player in the league. He won this personal award at the same time as leading his team to their first Jupiler League title in 25 years. The next season was equally successful as Standard won the league for the second time in a row but only after a two-game play-off with Belgian heavyweights Anderlecht.
In late 2009 Defour broke his right foot. During his period of recovery he received a letter from Sir Alex Ferguson, manager of Manchester United, wishing him all the best in his recovery.[2] This led to persistent rumours of a switch to the English giants. On 26 October talking to talksport Defour refuted these rumours by saying "I do know that Manchester United are monitoring me - if everything goes well and I continue playing as I am, there is a better chance of me leaving than there was at the start of the season. " [3]
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