In January 2015, he joined Kayseri Erciyessor, before moving to UAE Pro League side Baniyas Club in September 2015.

Born in Rotterdam, Drenthe, who is of Surinamese descent, joined local side Feyenoord's youth system at the age of 13, playing mainly as a winger during his junior years.

After scoring three goals against Ajax in the Otten Cup youth tournament he began training with the main squad, while still appearing for the reserves.

[citation needed] In the same week where he helped his club to a 5–1 win at Ajax with the second team, Drenthe was offered a professional contract at Feyenoord.

Manager Erwin Koeman handed him his Eredivisie debut against Vitesse at the Gelredome, and the player finished the season with three matches.

After the former suffered an injury and the latter was transferred to ADO Den Haag, Drenthe became first-choice as Feyenoord finished seventh in the league.

After winning the 2007 UEFA European Under-21 Championship with the Netherlands, Feyenoord accepted a €14 million bid by Real Madrid after Drenthe threatened to take his club to court if they did not want to let him go.

He made his official debut as a midfielder in the second leg of the season's Spanish Supercup against Sevilla, and scored the 1–1 equaliser from 40 yards out, with the ball hitting the crossbar and crossing the line.

[citation needed] Drenthe played regularly for Real Madrid in his debut season, in both left-wing positions, but began appearing less after the development of Marcelo, being dropped from the list of 18 by manager Bernd Schuster in several games.

[11] He made his debut on 11 September in a 2–0 away win against Barcelona,[12] and scored his first goal for the club on 14 November, netting from a free kick against Real Sociedad in a 2–1 home victory.

[14] However, the player would soon fall out of favour with the club's board of directors and coaching staff after arriving one week after the winter break ended, citing a "loss of confidence in Hércules management", rather than what was previously perceived as "a protest over unpaid wages".

[23] Drenthe started in the next game for Everton, scoring a powerful low drive from 20 yards out for the first goal of the 1–1 away draw against Queens Park Rangers.

This resulted in manager David Moyes omitting the player from Everton's FA Cup semi-final squad; he was also told to stay away from the club.

[25] Former Everton Goalkeeper Tim Howard confirmed that poor discipline and attitude around the club played its part in Drenthe being left out the squad.

[26] In a magazine interview published in April, he accused Barcelona's Lionel Messi of racially abusing him on more than one occasion, repeatedly addressing him as "negro".

[31] On 8 March 2014, Drenthe scored his first goal for the club in a 1–1 draw away at Brighton & Hove Albion after he cut in from the right and fired a left-footed shot into the bottom corner.

[45] After his first full season at Feyenoord, Drenthe was called by Dutch under-21 coach Foppe de Haan to be part of his squad for the 2007 UEFA European Championship, which was held in the Netherlands.

[47] On 14 November 2010, Drenthe was selected for the first time for the Dutch senior team, as coach Bert van Marwijk picked him as a late replacement for the injured Urby Emanuelson.