Clarence Clyde Seedorf first burst onto the scene in the early 1990s as a gifted right-sided midfielder with Ajax Amsterdam, where he made his debut at the tender age of 16 and 242 days. To this day, he remains the youngest ever player to feature for the Ajax first team. He has since gone on to establish himself as a true icon of Dutch and international football.

Having emerged through the ranks of Ajax's fabled Youth Academy, Clarence played a starring role in the golden team that won the Eredivisie title in 1993 and 1995, and his contribution was acknowledged by his fellow professionals, who voted him Dutch talent of the year in both 1993 and 1994.

In 1994/95 season, Clarence was a pivotal member of the Ajax team that won the Champions League, when they defeated his current club AC Milan 1-0. The high standard of his performances throughout that season earned him a move to Serie A club Sampdoria in the summer of 1995.

A year later, in 1996, he was on the move again, joining Spanish giants Real Madrid, and during his first season at the Bernabeu he helped his new club regain the Primera Division title. The following season, he won his second Champions League winner’s medal, as Los Merengues ended a 32-year barren spell by defeating Juventus 1-0 in the final of Europe’s top club competition.

Among the many highlights of his career for Real Madrid was a dazzling 40-yard strike in the clasico against local rivals Atlético Madrid. It was precisely the sort of contribution that brought him to the attention of an Inter Milan side eager to restore their former fortunes, and ahead of the 1999/2000 season, Clarence returned to Italy to join the Nerazzuri.

After two seasons with Inter, in 2002, he made the switch to AC Milan. And the following season he helped the Rossoneri to lift the Coppa Italia (the Italian Cup) for the first time in 26 years. But that was just the prelude to a far greater success. A month later, he took his personal haul of Champions League titles to three, helping AC Milan prevail in an all-Italian final against Juventus. In doing so, he became the only player in the history of the competition to win it with three different clubs.

In the 2003/04 campaign, Clarence played an instrumental role once more as AC Milan followed up their European success by storming to the Serie A title. It was the fourth domestic league triumph of the Dutchman’s career, following two Eredivisie titles with Ajax (twice) and one La Liga success at Real Madrid.

In July 2006, Clarence traded in his Number 20 shirt at AC Milan for the coveted Number 10 shirt. And on 12 November that year, his performances were rewarded with a recall to the Dutch national team.

2007 was another year of triumph for Clarence on the club front too, as once more, he helped inspire AC Milan to Champions League glory, this time with a 2-1 victory over Liverpool in Athens. That victory took his collection of winner’s medals to four, meaning that, in the history of the competition, only his Milan teammate, Paolo Maldini has more.

In 2004, at the age of 28, Clarence achieved a significant personal landmark with the Dutch national team when he earned his 73rd cap, equalling the total number won by his childhood idol, Frank Rijkaard. In 2007 he played a crucial part in Holland’s qualification campaign for Euro2008. By 2008, his cap tally had risen to 86.

To date, in addition to his four Champions League winner’s medals, Clarence’s ever expanding trophy haul includes two FIFA Club World Cup triumphs, one UEFA Super Cup, four domestic league titles, two domestic cups, three domestic super cups… In short, no Dutch player in history has won more silverware.

At the 10th annual UEFA Club Football Awards in 2007, Clarence was recognised as Europe’s Best Midfielder. The same year, he was awarded the Torretta award for Best European athlete.

It is a mark of Clarence’s standing within the international game that, in 2004, football legend Pelé included him as one of the 125 best living footballers in the world, in a list commissioned by FIFA.

Clarence Seedorf overtook Frank de Boer as the Dutch footballer with the most European club matches under his belt, reaching 130 on Feb 20, 2008 with AC Milan's match against London's Arsenal,.

And, with a contract at AC Milan until 2011, there are still plenty of chapters in the Clarence Seedorf story still to be written…watch this space!