Red Bull.com

Steven began his career at Zennester Hombeek, where he played for the youth team of KV Mechelen. Following the bankruptcy of that club, he was picked up by KRC Genk. After a short stay with the promising talents, Steven was transferred to the Genk A team during the winter break in the 2004/05 season. He didn’t get much further than the occasional substitution. His big break came during the 2005/06 season when he made the starting squad, partly due to a wave of injuries among the starters. He never surrendered his place again, and, only 17 years old, directed the club and grew to become a public favourite in Genk. That season, he was also called up to join the national squad. In 2006, he threatened to break his contract (as allowed by the act of 1978), which was not well received. A potential transfer to the Dutch club Ajax fell through, and after a great deal of media attention, he made his much-discussed move to Standard Luik in July 2006.

Steven Defour was named captain of Standard Luik at the start of the 2007/08 season, following the departure of Sergio Conceiçao. A bit later, he turned down a transfer to Ajax Amsterdam where he was to have replaced Wesley Sneijder.

On 16 January 2008, he won the Golden Shoe, the most important Belgian football trophy.

At the start of the 2009-2010 season, the Standard Luik captain was attracting interest from Everton, Liverpool FC, Atletico Madrid, Olympique Marseille, Middlesbrough, Real Madrid, Chelsea, FC Barcelona & AFC Ajax.