Leroy Johan Fer (born 5 January 1990) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for UAE club Al-Nasr.

[14] Fer has one younger brother, Leegreg, who played for the Feyenoord under-17 team,[12][7] a sister[15] and his cousin Patrick van Aanholt is a footballer for Galatasaray.

[18] He made his official debut for the club under the management of Bert van Marwijk and Fer replaced Nuri Şahin in the 84th minute in the Eredivisie home at age 17, in a 6–0 win match against Heracles Almelo on 2 December 2007.

[22] Due to injuries in the club's first team squad, Fer made his first appearance in the starting line-up in the Eredivisie away match against rivals, Ajax, losing 3–0 on 3 February 2008.

[31] On 18 September 2008, Fer made his official European debut, as he was named in the starting line-up in the UEFA Cup home match against Kalmar FF.

[60] Since the start of the 2010–11 season, Fer continued to establish himself in the first team, playing in the central midfield position, though at times, he acknowledged not performing well.

[82] Two weeks later on 28 August 2011, he scored his second goal of the season, in a 2–2 draw against SC Heerenveen in what turned out to be last appearance for the club and didn't play for Feyenoord eight years later.

[83] After months of ongoing transfer saga, Fer joined fellow Eredivisie club Twente at the end of August 2011 in a deal reported to be worth €5 million.

Ahead of the 2012–13 season, Fer was linked with a move to Portuguese club Benfica but he ended up staying at FC Twente.

[108] On 28 January 2013, it was announced that English side Everton of the Premier League had agreed a deal, reportedly worth £8.6 million, to sign Fer.

[109] However, the deal fell through when a medical revealed the player had a long-term knee injury and Everton wanted to negotiate a payment by appearances fee.

[119] On 13 July 2013, Norwich City confirmed the signing of Fer on a four-year deal for an undisclosed fee believed to be in the region on £4.4 million.

[124] Fer was awarded Man of the Match for an exceptional performance when he set up the only goal of the game, in a 1–0 home victory over Southampton on 31 August 2013.

[128] He confirmed on Match of the Day that the shot was completely intentional and had not expected such a reaction from the Cardiff players, who surrounded him and started shoving him around.

[140] Following Norwich's relegation to the Championship, Fer moved to newly promoted Premier League team Queens Park Rangers, signing a three-year deal with the club for a reported fee of £8 million.

[154] However, he failed a medical due to his knee injury and stayed at Queens Park Rangers throughout the summer transfer window.

[160] However, in a match against Middlesbrough on 20 November 2015, he received a straight red card in stoppage for handball, leading to a penalty and successfully converted by Grant Leadbitter, as the opposition team won 1–0.

On 1 February 2016, Fer joined Premier League side Swansea City on loan for the remainder of the season after failing to make an impact under Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink.

[175] Three weeks later on 1 October 2016, Fer scored his fourth goal of the season, in a 4–1 loss against Liverpool, in what turned out to be Francesco Guidolin's last match as the club's manager.

[181] Once, however, the combination of poor performances and his own injury concern saw him placed on the substitute bench, but did help the club avoid relegation.

[185] However, Fer found himself being disciplined on two occasions, including a red card against Wolverhampton Wanderers in the third round of the FA Cup on 6 January 2018.

[189] This lasted until Fer suffered an achilles tendon injury during a 1–1 draw against Leicester City on 3 February 2018 and was substituted in the 36th minute.

[200] After the match, manager Graham Potter praised his performance, calling his own 'best game of season', while Wales Online agreed.

[211] Upon joining Feyenoord, his return was welcomed by the club's supporters and said: "I think that for some fans, who found it very difficult that I had made that choice at the time, it is good to ask for forgiveness.

[213] After resting for two matches, Fer returned to the first team, coming on as a second-half substitute, in a 1–1 draw against FC Utrecht on 18 August 2019.

[214] In a follow–up match against Hapoel Be'er Sheva, he scored his first goals since his return to the club, in a 3–0 win in the first leg of the UEFA Europa League's play–off round.

[228] He made his return to the first team, starting a match and played 78 minutes before being substituted, in a 2–0 win against Fortuna Sittard on 4 April 2021.

[230] Fer helped Feyenoord qualify for the UEFA Europa Conference League next season after beating Sparta Rotterdam and FC Utrecht.

[14] After a solid run through the qualifying rounds, without losing a single match, Netherlands U17 ended up in the group stage with host Belgium U17, Iceland U17 and England U17; where they started out disappointing, in a 2–2 draw against Belgium U17, then came out victorious, in a 3–0 against Iceland U17, but finished on a third place in the group after losing 4–2 the final match against England U17 and then against Germany U17 in the play–offs.

[250] On 29 July 2009, the Netherlands U21 team began their 2011 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifying campaign with a friendly match against England and he was called up to the squad for the first time.