Feyenoord Boateng was born in
Nkawkaw, Ghana. He spent some of his childhood in the Ghanaian capital,
Accra, where he played football barefoot despite having boots and rocky pitches. He was raised in the Netherlands from age 10 after his father remarried. At 16, he signed for
Feyenoord, where he was a
utility player, being used in all positions except
goalkeeper,
left winger and
centre forward.
Coventry City Boateng watched a
4–3 game between
Liverpool and
Newcastle United in April 1996, convincing him about English football's quality. He scored his first goal for the Sky Blues on 2 May 1998, in a 2–0 home win over
Blackburn Rovers. On 27 February 1999, he and
John Aloisi scored twice each in a 4–1 win away to fellow
West Midlands club
Aston Villa – his team's first ever league win at
Villa Park.
Aston Villa In July 1999, Boateng signed for Aston Villa for a £4.5 million fee. The club had previously bid £3 million after he had scored twice against them. Coventry chairman Bryan Richardson accused Villa manager
John Gregory of making illegal approaches for Boateng. Gregory said that Richardson approached Villa to tell them they could buy Boateng for £5 million, opening up negotiations again. Boateng played 131 matches for Villa, including the
2000 FA Cup final, which his team lost by a single goal to
Chelsea. On 20 April 2002, away to
Leicester City, opponent
Paul Dickov's boot came off, and Boateng threw it into the crowd. He apologised for his actions and was warned by manager
Graham Taylor. Boateng missed only one game in
2001–02, but immediately requested a transfer once the season ended.
Middlesbrough In the summer of 2002, a potential move to Liverpool collapsed, while negotiations with
Fulham slowed down. Boateng moved to
Middlesbrough for £5 million. He said he was initially hesitant because he found Boro an easy team to play against. Still, he was convinced when Netherlands teammate
Jaap Stam spoke highly of manager
Steve McClaren, who had been assistant manager when Stam was at
Manchester United. In November 2002, Boateng avoided action from
the Football Association on two occasions after clashing with
Gianfranco Zola of Chelsea and
Nick Barmby of
Leeds United. He played in the
2004 Football League Cup final as Boro won the first major honour in their history. On 16 October 2004, he scored his first goal since September 2001 in a 4–0 win at Blackburn. In
2004–05, he missed 12 games through injury before returning to help the team to 7th place and
UEFA Cup qualification. He played in the
2006 UEFA Cup final; his team lost 4–0 to
Sevilla. In June 2006, after negotiations of nearly a year, Boateng signed a new three-year contract. In the
2007–08 season, Southgate gave the captain's armband to
Julio Arca in December and then
Emmanuel Pogatetz in March, saying he wanted to move away from having one permanent captain.
Hull City Newly promoted Premier League club
Hull City announced on 10 July 2008 that Boateng had agreed to sign a two-year contract with them, for an undisclosed fee. After completing a medical, the move was completed on 16 July for an estimated fee of £1 million. On 6 February 2010, Boateng scored his first goal for Hull City in a 2–1 win over
Manchester City, their first win since November 2009. Boateng's contract with Hull City ended following their relegation from the Premier League in 2010. He was runner-up to
Stephen Hunt for the Player of the Year award.
Later career After holding talks with
Celtic, Boateng joined Greek side
Skoda Xanthi on a two-year deal in July 2010. On 27 July 2011, Boateng joined
Nottingham Forest of the
Football League Championship on a one-year deal. He reunited with former Middlesbrough manager McClaren, while former Dutch international and Middlesbrough teammate
Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink was first-team coach. He played 7 games in total for Forest, scoring an added-time equaliser in a 2–2 draw with
East Midlands rivals Leicester City on 20 August. On 15 November 2012, Boateng arrived in Malaysia to sign with
T-Team. Four days later, he signed a one-year contract, linking him again with former Hull teammate and
Republic of Ireland international
Caleb Folan. ==International career==