Wout François Maria Weghorst (born 7 August 1992) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker for Eredivisie club Twente and the Netherlands national team.
Weghorst began his professional career in the second tier of Dutch football with Emmen. He then played in the Eredivisie with Heracles and AZ, before joining VfL Wolfsburg in 2018. After scoring 70 goals in 144 games for Wolfsburg, he was signed by Burnley in January 2022 for a fee of £12 million. After the club were relegated from the Premier League, Weghorst had loan spells at Turkish club Beşiktaş, fellow English club Manchester United and German club TSG Hoffenheim, before returning to the Netherlands with Ajax in mid-2024.
Weghorst made one appearance for the Netherlands under-21 team in 2014, before making his senior international debut in March 2018. He represented the Netherlands at UEFA Euro 2020, the 2022 FIFA World Cup (where he notably scored two goals in his side's quarter-final match against Argentina), UEFA Euro 2024, and the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Born in Borne, Overijssel, Weghorst started his career at local clubs RKSV NEO and DETO Twenterand, before joining Eredivisie club Willem II in 2011. Despite having the opportunity to make his way into the first-team, he never broke through, and only featured for the reserve team. He signed for Eerste Divisie club Emmen in 2012, making his debut in a match against Dordrecht on 10 August. Weghorst went on to score his first goal in professional football a month later, in the derby against Veendam, a match that ended in a 2–1 win for Emmen. In his debut season, Weghorst appeared in 28 league matches scoring eight goals. The following season, he scored 13 times from 36 appearances.
After his spell with Emmen, Weghorst signed a contract with Eredivisie club Heracles on a free transfer.
On 9 August 2014, Weghorst made his Eredivisie debut for Heracles, in a 0–3 home loss against AZ in the Polman Stadion. He scored his first Eredivisie goal in his first start – a 2–1 loss against Ajax at the Amsterdam Arena. He ended the 2014–15 Eredivisie season with eight goals from 31 appearances, as Heracles successfully battled relegation.
In his second season, Heracles finished in sixth place and, through the subsequent play-offs, the club qualified for the Europa League qualifying round – the first time in history that the club qualified for an international competition. Weghorst was the team's top goalscorer with twelve goals in the Eredivisie.
After his successful season with Heracles, Weghorst signed a four-year contract with Alkmaar-based club AZ in July 2016, with the option for an extra year.
On 7 August, Weghorst marked his debut for AZ with a goal in a 2–2 draw with Heerenveen. On 24 October, he scored his first European goal in a 1–0 UEFA Europa League group win against Irish team Dundalk. On 2 February 2017, he converted the winning kick of the 3–2 penalty shootout win against second division club Cambuur in the KNVB semi-final. On 30 April, he started at centre forward in the 2017 KNVB Cup Final, where AZ were beaten 2–0 by Vitesse at the De Kuip stadium in Rotterdam.
He ended his first season in Alkmaar with 18 goals from 49 appearances in all competitions.
Ahead of the 2017–18 Eredivisie season, Weghorst was appointed vice-captain to Ron Vlaar. He finished the season as the joint-third top scorer in the Eredivisie with 18 goals, tied with Steven Berghuis, and trailing only Alireza Jahanbakhsh and Bjørn Johnsen, who scored 21 and 19 goals respectively. He also recorded nine goals in six KNVB Cup matches, scoring in every round en route to the final, where AZ were beaten for the second consecutive season, this time by Feyenoord.
On 26 June 2018, Weghorst joined German club VfL Wolfsburg, for a reported transfer-fee of €10.5m.
He made his league debut for Wolfsburg against Schalke 04 in the opening match of the 2018–19 Bundesliga season and scored his first goal the following week in a 3–1 win at Bayer Leverkusen. On 16 March 2019, he scored his first hat-trick for Wolfsburg, and first by any player for the club since Mario Gómez in April 2017, in a 5–2 league win over Fortuna Düsseldorf. He ended the season with another hat-trick in the final Bundesliga fixture – an 8–1 win over FC Augsburg – giving him a final total of 17 goals, ranking joint-third in the Bundesliga goalscoring charts for the campaign.
In the 2019–20 Bundesliga season, Weghorst produced another impressive goal return, scoring 16 times in the league.
On 25 October 2020, he scored a goal in a 2–1 victory against Arminia Bielefeld, from a free-kick routine which was later replicated during the 2022 FIFA World Cup. In the 2020–21 season, he scored 20 goals in the Bundesliga and 25 times in all competitions, helping die Wölfe to a fourth-placed finish and qualification to the 2021–22 UEFA Champions League.
Weghorst scored six times in the first 20 Matchdays of the 2021–22 Bundesliga season, before the club accepted an offer for the player from English club Burnley during the January transfer window.
On 31 January 2022, Weghorst signed a three-and-a-half-year contract with English club Burnley for a fee of £12 million. Weghorst made his Premier League debut for the club on 5 February, playing the full 90 minutes in a 0–0 draw with Watford at Turf Moor. Weghorst scored his first goal for the club on 19 February in a 3–0 win against Brighton & Hove Albion, helping to end an eleven game winless run for his new club. His second Burnley goal came on 17 April, in a 1–1 draw against West Ham United.
Burnley ended the 2021–22 season in 18th place, resulting in relegation to the EFL Championship, with Weghorst registering only two goals from 20 appearances.