Category Archives: NEWS

Strootman to Roma can wait

July 12, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

Although it is far from complete, the transfer of PSV’s Kevin Strootman to AS Roma is still on but the Eindhoven club are still not financially satisfied by the deal as of yet.

It is reported that PSV wants at least €18 million for the tenacious midfielder but the Serie A club has yet to match an offer for near that amount. Technical director, Marcel Brands has stated that the player will stay with PSV unless the money is right: “The money for the transfer has not been decided yet, and it is important that we get the right amount for a player we think very highly of.”

According to Brands, it may be some time before the deal is complete: “We are in no rush to broker this deal and AS Roma understands that. When Dries Mertens left, Napoli took five or six days to arrange it. In the meantime, Strootman will train and play with us in Germany.”

One team that will be hoping the transfer is complete soon is Strootman’s former club, Sparta Rotterdam.

Strootman came through the youth ranks at Sparta and when the player transferred to FC Utrecht in 2011 for €750,000 they left a clause in the contract to receive some part of any transfer fee received in sales of the midfielder. When Strootman moved to PSV from Utrecht, Sparta reportedly received around €335,000 from the deal, as they are set to receive 4% of any transfer fee.

Sparta’s general manager Wiljan Vloet spoke to AD Sportwereld and stated that money could help the cash-strapped club: “We want to put the money in the day-to-day running of the club. We are dealing with deficits in the budget and, with this windfall, we can partly cover the amount.”

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“Daddy Cool” leaves for Swansea

July 11, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Last season’s Eredivisie top scorer Wilfried Bony have joined English Premier League side Swansea City for a cliub record £12m, subject to a work permit.

The Ivorian striker, signs a four-year contract with the Welsh club and leaves Vitesse Arnhem after two seasons in Holland. He was the Eredivisie’s top goalscorer last season scoring 31 goals in 30 league appearances. In total at Vitesse, he has notched an impressive 46 goals in 65 games.

In an interview with Swansea’s official website, Bony stated: “The move has been talked about for quite some time, so I am delighted it is all completed. Now it is important that I focus my mind on the challenge ahead because I hope to make the Swansea fans very happy.

“I watched Swansea a lot last season on TV. They have some good players and I like the way they play. I appreciate the style, which is similar to the Dutch way, and I think being at Swansea will help me develop as a player.

“I believe it’s the right step for me; the perfect move. I had a lot of offers from all across the world, including England, France, Ukraine, Russia and the UAE.

“But I chose Swansea because it is a good club with a corresponding style, a great manager and, of course, playing in the Premier League. I considered everything and Swansea came out on top.’’

The pacy and powerful Bony was named Dutch Footballer of the Year for 2012-13 and had spells at Issia Wazi, in his homeland, and in the Czech league with Sparta Prague before arriving in Holland to join Vitesse in January 2011.

The transfer leaves Vitesse now wondering how they will replace their two major stars that fired them up to fourth place last year in the Eredivisie. Marco van Ginkel joined Chelsea last week and now with top scorer Bony joining him the Premier League, one wonders where the Arnhem club look to find replacements.

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Fer set to join Canaries

July 10, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Yet another Eredivisie star is set to move to the English Premier League. FC Twente are set to sell midfielder Leroy Fer to Norwich City. The box to box midfielder will sign a five-year contract, according to local Norwich newspaper, the Norfolk East Daily Express.

The player’s agent has confirmed that the player will be presented and will officially sign before Friday of this week.

The Oranje international is believed to have completed a medical today along with Swedish defender Martin Olsson, who is set to complete a £2.5m deal from English Championship side Blackburn Rovers.

A fee in the region of €8m has been agreed for the player and he should join up with Chris Hughton’s side before they fly out to America for their pre-season tour.

Nicknamed ‘The Bouncer’, Fer, joined Twente from Feyenoord for €5m last summer and his all action displays in midfield for FC Twente, Oranje and Jong Oranje has gone from strength to strength over the past 12 months.

Last season, Fer netted eleven goals in all competitions and links up with compatriot Ricky Van Wolfswinkel, a recent signing from Sporting Lisbon.

Fer almost completed a move to Everton in January but the Toffees pulled out of a deal at the last minute over concerns of a knee injury the player had maintained over the years. However, the player has shown no signs of this worrying him and has compelted the medical.

One current Eredivisie player, not joining Fer at Norwich is PSV’s Swedish international striker Ola Toivonen, he has no interest in joining and is aiming his sights higher than a team that finished 11th in the Premier League last term.

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Altidore leaves AZ for Sunderland

July 9, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

The Eredivisie has lost yet another of it’s stars of last season, with American international striker Jozy Altidore leaving AZ Alkmaar to seal a move to the Premier League with Sunderland.

The 23-year-old has signed a four-year deal with the Black Cats, for an undisclosed fee rumoured to be around €8 million.

The striker completed a medical on Monday and put pen to paper on the contract on Tuesday and talking to the club’s official website he said: “I’m thrilled to be here. It’s a fantastic club, I’m really excited about this season and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Altidore began his career in the MLS with the New York Red Bulls, before heading to Spain with Villarreal, where he went on to enjoy loan spells at Xerez, Hull City and Bursaspor. He arrived in Holland in the summer of 2001, and joined AZ, scoring 38 goals in 67 appearances in the process. However, last season he made his mark, winning the KNVB Beker and scoring a career-high 23 goals.

It is a blow to fans of the Dutch league who has seen top performers from last term like Marco van Ginkel, Filip Djuridic, Dries Mertens, Virgil van Dijk, Sanharib Malki and soon to be top scorer Wilfried Bony all departing for pastures new. This maybe cements the fact even further that the Dutch top flight is the stepping-stone of Europe, but of course, this also means that the next season, others will have to step up and make their mark like Altidore did last year.

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NEC signs SPL top scorer

July 8, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Eredivisie side NEC Nijmegen have added striker Michael Higdon to their ranks today. Englishman Higdon arrives from Scottish Premier League club Motherwell on a free transfer after his contract expired with the Scottish club on July 1st.

The club needed an attacker after losing Melvin Platje to Isreali side Neftchi Baku and Rick ten Voorde to SC Paderborn in Germany, last month. NEC’s technical director Carlos Aalbers announced the deal this afternoon via the clubs official website: “We needed a forward in the squad and we wanted to sign a target man, who can score goals and Michael has done just that in Scotland.”

Higdon, signs a two-year contract with NEC and was the leading scorer in last season’s Scottish Premier League with 26 goals. The 29-year-old scored 43 goals in 82 appearances for Motherwell over the last two seasons he had with the club.

Previously with St Mirren, the striker netted 20 in 74 games, and at Falkirk he scored 17 times from 72 games.

NEC narrowly avoided a relegation play-off spot by four points last season, finishing fourth bottom and will look to their new number nine to fire them up the league next term.

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EERSTE DIVISIE, NEWS, TRANSFERS

Eerste Divisie transfer round-up

July 7, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

The new Eerste Divisie season begins on Friday 2nd August 2013, our new writer Markus Wenzel is here with a rundown of all the transfer dealings and managerial movement within the divisions clubs over the summer so far.

PLAYER TRANSFERS

Sparta Rotterdam have swapped their goalkeepers in the last few days. German keeper Nico Pellatz, who played 30 games for Sparta last season, after two years in Rotterdam has signed a contract with the Dynamo Dresden. Dresden plays in the 2.Bundesliga and Pellatz moves on a free. The new keeper will be Moroccan Khalid Sinouh, last season the 38-year-old was under contract in NEC Nijmegen and played six times.

Also joining Sparta is striker Johan Voskamp, 28, who arrives from Slask Wroclaw in Poland. He played before in 2010/11 for the club in the Eerste Divisie. Meanwhile, Jens van Son leaves Rotterdam for a contract with the FC Eindhoven.

New entry Jong Ajax has signed some talents in the past week for their first campaign in the Eerste Divisie. Marvin Höner, a German striker, comes from the youth team of Arminia Bielefeld where he played in the U19-Bundesliga. Midfielder Stanislav Lobotka arrives on a one-year loan from the Slovakian club AS Trencin. Also coming in is defender Derwin Martina and striker Vincent Vermeij are promoted from Ajax own academy.

Fortuna Sittard has loaned Franco Zennaro from Belgian club Standard Liege. The midfielder, with Belgian and Italian roots, will come on a one-year loan deal to Limburg.

Relegated from the Eredivisie, VVV Venlo has confirmed they are interested in Prince Rajcomar from rival Fortuna Sittard, talks are ongoing as the striker has still a contract at the Trendwork Arena. In other news, Fortuna Sittard has extended the contracts with midfielder Jordie Briels and keeper Mark Voss.

Daryl van Miegham is the newest striker from Telstar. The 24-year-old, was last season in Almelo under contract with Heracles but has now signed for a year in Telstar. Coach Marcel Keizer said “With his quickness, he is an absolute asset for our club.”

Jong Twente has signed Peruvian defender Renato Tapia, the 18-year-old arrives from Peruvian side (Esther Grande de Bentín) EBG Sports Club

De Graafschap has acquired Edwin Linssen from Greek side AEK Lanerca. The midfielder, 32, has previous played in Holland with VVV Venlo, Roda JC, Helmond Sport and Fortuna Sittard.

FC Emmen contracted the 22-year-old striker Quenten Martinus from Hungarian club Ferencvaros Budapest.

FC Volendam have suffered a blow losing last year’s division top-scorer of the Eerste Divisie, Jack Tuyp. The striker is now a free agent talking to some lower Eredivisie clubs. Fellow frontman Mieciel Kramer, has now signed for Helmond Sport. He should replace Emrullah Güvenc, who joins Antwerp in Belgium. Young promising goalkeeper Sonny Stevens has also left Volendam for the FC Twente. The 21-year-old player will be the number three goalkeeper in Enschede.

COACHING CHANGES

Nearly half the league’s clubs arrive into the new season with a new coach. Alfons Groenendijk is the new coach of Jong Ajax (from Ajax A1), John-Paul de Jong switches from Jong FC Utrecht to the FC Eindhoven, Jong PSV signed the Bosnian coach Darije Kalezic and Jong FC Twente signed the former Haarlem coach Jan Zoutman.

The new team entering the league is from Groesbeek, Achilles´29, and they have lost their successful coach Van Deinen and presented François Gesthuizen from Blaauw Geel 28 as their new coach.

After Henk ten Cate departs Sparta signed Adri Bogers, formerly assistant coach of NAC Breda. Den Bosch hopes to get success with Ruud Kaiser. The former coach of Dynamo Dresden in Germany was last the technical director of Lierse SK in Belgium.

VVV Venlo presented Rene Trost from MVV as their new boss so MVV signed Tini Ruys from local rival Roda, he was there responsible for the A1 side.

The biggest name in this summer so far was presented from Excelsior. The club from Rotterdam, who finished at the second last position in the finished season, signed the now retired Danish international striker Jon Dahl Tomasson as their new coach. Tomasson was two times the Danish player of the year and won the Champions League in 2003 with the AC Milan.

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PSV loan Man City starlet

July 6, 2013 Will Burns Leave a comment

Local Eindhoven newspaper Omroep Brabant are reporting that Philip Cocu has clinched his fourth reinforcement for the PSV squad of the transfer window, with Karim Rekik joining on a season-long loan from English Premier League side Manchester City.

The highly-rated Rekik, an 18-year-old Dutch/Tunisian central defender, will be unveiled and will join up with his new side on Monday.

Rekik signed for Manchester City from Feyenoord in the summer of 2011, and made his debut appearance for the first team in the Dublin Super Cup in pre-season. He made his official first team debut for Manchester City on 21 September 2011 against Birmingham City in the third round of the League Cup, making a substitute appearance. In 2011/12 he was loaned to Portsmouth making eight starts and last season he spent it in the English second tier, The Championship, with Blackburn Rovers, but unfortunately only made five appearances for the Lancashire club.

This is the first deal between the Eindhoven club and Manchester City since beginning a partnership back in May.

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Ajax loan Bojan from Barca

July 6, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Primera Division Barcelona champions have confirmed that striker Bojan Krkic will spend the 2013-14 season on loan at Eredivisie champions Ajax.

Bojan, 22, has spent the last two previous season on loan in the Serie A in Italy with Roma and AC Milan but after scoring seven goals in Milan, he struggled to gain a place in the first team and managed only three league goals.

The following statement was published on FCBarcelona.com this morning: “FC Barcelona and Ajax Amsterdam have reached agreement for the loan of Bojan Krkic to the Dutch club for the 2013-14 season.

“The Catalan striker – who will be 23 this August, will play under ex-Barca man Frank de Boer, who led Ajax to the Dutch title last season to guarantee a place in next year’s Champions League.”

Bojan made his first-team debut for Barca under then current manager, another Dutchman, Frank Rijkaard, in 2007 and scored 26 league goals in four seasons before heading to Italy.

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Ajax get Van der Hoorn

July 5, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

Ajax have clinched the signature of talented central defender Mike van der Hoorn from FC Utrecht for an undisclosed fee. The powerful Jong Oranje central defender joins Frank de Boer’s Eredivisie champions after some excellent performances in 2012-13 for Utrecht. Van der Hoorn will sign a deal until June 2017 with the Amsterdammers upon completion of his medical.

With the expected departure of centre-back Toby Alderweireld this summer, Ajax were keen to add a new defender to their squad and they see Van der Hoorn as the perfect replacement for the Belgium international.

Van der Hoorn, speaking for the first time about the transfer to Voetbal International, the defender said: “It’s great that the deal was done so quickly, this Wednesday after I’ve had my medical and presentation, I’ll be on the training field for the first time.”

“I’ve had a good discussion with Frank de Boer and afterwards, I was updated regularly by the club while I’ve been on holiday in Mexico. This is a great opportunity for me and I leave Utrecht in a good spirits. The club will play in Europe this year and for me, Utrecht will always be special to me.”

The player has been with Utrecht since 12 years old and was product of the Utrecht youth academy. He made his debut for the first team in 2010-11 and had his breakthrough years last season, playing 44 Eredivisie matches and scoring six goals.

This past summer, the 20-year-old was part of the Jong Oranje squad who made it to the semi-finals of the UEFA’s Under-21s European Championship in Israel, but had a disappointing tournament.

However, on the basis of last season, he should prove to be a great signing for De Boer’s challenge to retain the league title this coming campaign.

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Van Ginkel signs for Chelsea

July 4, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

English Premier League side Chelsea have signed highly-rated midfielder Marco van Ginkel from Vitesse Arnhem. The transfer is worth a reported £8m.

The 20-year-old Dutch international has become new Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho’s second signing of the summer after the arrival of German international Andre Schurrle.

A short statement on Chelsea’s website said: “Chelsea Football Club and Vitesse Arnhem have reached an agreement for the transfer of Marco van Ginkel. The player will join Chelsea subject to a medical, agreement of personal terms and legal documentation.”

20-year-old Van Ginkel joined Vitesse at just seven years old and has progressed through their academy. He made his Eredivisie debut for the club on 9th April 2010 replacing Nicky Hofs in the 67th minute as the Arnhem club fell to a 4–1 defeat to RKC Waalwijk.

The midfielder made his international debut against Germany in a 0-0 draw last November and was included in the Jomng Oranje squad for the recent Under-21 European Championships in Israel.

He was a regular last season and emerged as one of Vitesse’s star performers as the team secured a fourth placed finish in the Eredivisie.

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Cocu Revolution continues – enter Adam Maher

June 30, 2013 Will Burns 2 Comments

PSV technical manager Marcel Brands announced on Sunday evening that AZ Alkmaar and the Eindhoven club have reached an financial agreement for Jong Oranje midfielder Adam Maher. This is third signing of new head coach Philip Cocu.

The 19-year-old will undergo a medical on Monday will discuss personal terms before signing a five-year contract. If the deal is completed he will join up with his new team-mates at pre-season training on Monday July 8th.

Philip Cocu and Brands are working day and night trying to compile a team to challenge for the Eredivisie championship next season. Maher joins signings Florian Jozefzoon and Jeffrey Bruma, alongside the returning goalkeeper Jeroen Zoet, as the fourth new face for the PSV squad for next season.

Brands stated that he is very happy with the transfer of Maher. “It is a long-cherished desire to get Adam. With him arriving, we have a very talented player that fits into the philosophy of PSV Eindhoven. We are very happy with this deal, because we really think he can contribute massively to the future success of this club.”

Maher tortured his new club PSV in the KNVB Beker final on 9th May this year, and AZ Alkmaar ended running out 2-1 winners that day.

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Groningen invest in defence

June 28, 2013 Will Burns 1 Comment

After the sale of Virgil van Dijk to Celtic, FC Groningen have acted quickly to replace the big man and also bring in a new left-back.

Eric Botteghin and Giliano Wijnaldum arrive at the Euroborg

Arriving for the centre of defence is Eric Botteghin from NAC Breda. The Brazilian, with an Italian passport, stated he made the move so that he can play European football.

Botteghin said: “The people here are similar clubs as NAC Breda, with fanatical fans, but in Groningen, the sporting ambitions a lot bigger and that appeals to me. I have come here to get to the playoffs and play European football.”

It was revealed that Botteghin also spoke with Heerenveen, but had a better feeling for FC Groningen.

Also arriving is young left-back, Giliano Wijnaldum from AZ Alkmaar. The 20-year-old signs as a free transfer from AZ and signed a two-year contract. The brother of PSV midfielder Georginio stated he has arrived at the Euroborg Stadion to progress as a player.

“I am very glad I signed here,” said Wijnaldum “For me, FC Groningen is a step forward. Especially since I have here the opportunity to develop myself further, and that feels good.”

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The Cocu Revolution begins…

June 27, 2013 Will Burns 2 Comments

In the past two weeks PSV Eindhoven have secured over €14 million in transfer fees, and new manager Philip Cocu has started pumping the funds back into the team, a team that he is building for success.

Belgian left-winger Dries Mertens was shipped off to the Serie A on Monday, where he signed for Napoli for a rumoured €9 million. While Jeremain Lens is off to Ukraine, signing for Dynamo Kiev last week for a reported €5 million. Former PSV player, Cocu who took over from Dick Advocaat as the team’s head coach in May, now has the money to splash to work on his project.

The pressure is on the new manager to build a team to try and stop Frank de Boer’s Ajax run of Eredivisie championships, and today he added his first two recruits to the Eindhoven squad.

Central defender Jeffrey Bruma signs from Chelsea

PSV technical director Marcel Brands confirmed that the club reached an agreement with Chelsea for the transfer of 21-year-old central defender Jeffrey Bruma. Bruma, who joins PSV from the Europa League champions after being borrowed to Hamburg of the Bundesliga for the past two seasons, will sign a four-year contract. The Rotterdam-born defender made his full Netherlands debut in August 2010. Chelsea have agreed that the contract includes a buy-back clause.

Winger Florian Jozefzoon arrives from RKC Waalwijk

Also, arriving on Monday will be Florian Jozefzoon from RKC Waalwijk. The winger will sign a three-year contract with an option of a further year. Jozefzoon recently made appearances for the Jong Oranje at the Under-21 European Championships in Israel. Jozefzoon, who was born in French Guiana, will report for duty on Monday, 8 July, along with the other international players who have competed over the summer.

With both these players arriving on Monday, subject to medicials, it is a hotly rumoured that AZ Alkmaar wonderkid Adam Maher is next on Cocu’s shopping list, which would be a major coup for the Eindhoven club.

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