Eredivisie: Summer transfer targets 2013

I waited a couple of weeks with this thread as the Dutch league ended on the last Sunday of May, with the play-offs for European football and relegation played the time is nigh to write an update on all the players in the Eredivisie, which ones will likely go, all the bargains and the super talents that you should be watching closely for the next couple of years, here are the Eredivisie Summer transfer targets!

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Ajax won their third consecutive Eredivisie champions title this year and every summer manager Frank de Boer had to deal with a decimated team by the end of the Summer transfer period. In 2012 Vurnon Anita, Jan Vertonghen, Theo Jansen and Gregory van der Wiel were sold. In came Niklas Moisander, Viktor Fischer, Christian Poulsen, Lasse Schöne and Ryan Babel, yep the same Babel who played for Liverpool. De Boer had four Danes to select but the main question will be for Ajax: how many will there be left at the end of the Summer? Christian Poulsen was on a two year contract till 2014 and probably won't get a new contract as he is 32 years old, which doesn't fit Ajax' policy to develop youth players for the first squad only. Super talent Viktor Fischer already extended his contract to 2017 and has in his first season attracted a lot of attention from the scouts of the big clubs. The third Dane Lasse Schöne has a contract till 2015. But the main issue in Amsterdam is Christian Eriksen, after four seasons with Ajax the young Dane feels he is ready for the next step. For Ajax there is one draw back in selling the player: he has one year left on his contract which practically means a 50% off price deal will be made to make at least some money in a transfer. That being said: Eriksen will definitely be the bargain of the year, originally valued between 20-25 million pounds this youngster might leave the Amsterdam Arena for 7 to 9 million tops now. Liverpool, Dortmund and a couple of of clubs have already enquired at the club and the chance that of a sale this summer is next to 99% or higher.

Other top talents at Ajax are Siem de Jong and Toby Alderweireld. De Jong is an all round player: DM/CM/AM/ST/RW, he is one of the most versatile players in the Eredivisie and clubs in the Bundesliga will be handing in their bids for the player in June and July, who has two years left on his contract. If Ajax want to cash in, his market value is between 13 and 16 million pounds, they will have to do it this summer or they will face the same situation as they are in now with Eriksen. Moving on to Toby Alderweireld, with one year left on his contract, this 24 year old Belgian has a couple of options in the Premier League as a couple of clubs are interested in signing him, Spurs, Liverpool and even ManU have are rumoured to hand in a bid for the defender. Though the latter club seems extremely unlikely to do so. The Dutch press however thinks he is likely to go to the Serie A join Maarten Stekelenburg at AS Roma or go to Internazionale. The player has one major downside, and every scout probably knows it: he is no Vertonghen, which will lower his price to 4 maybe 5 million pounds. The last of the Summer targets at Ajax is Kenneth Vermeer, the goalie from Suriname who plays for the Dutch National team says he is ready for the Premier League or the Spanish League. With two years left on this contract this 27 year old was rumoured to be on the 'to watch list' for Aston Villa, Arsenal and even FC Barcelona. Mainly due to his reflexes and line stopping this goalkeeper is a very similar player as Michel Vorm at Swansea. To summarize this all: It seems likely that half of the above mentioned player will leave Ajax this summer and even though Frank de Boer extended his contract to 2017, most of his players will be gone and he will have to start rebuilding again.
Footnote: Even though Ricardo van Rhijn had a great season at Ajax, at 21 and just one full season I can't see him leave the club at this stage. With a contract to 2015 I can see him extending his contract for a couple of years and move on in 2 or 3 years from now.

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This picture above sums up the talents in the Eredivisie. Some came through this season and some horribly failed. But lets start with the first one, Jeroen Zoet, this 22 year old talent is part of the next generation of top goalies from The Netherlands. After two years being loaned out to RKC Waalwijk he will return to PSV this summer and he might just play. Boy Waterman's contract runs out and Tyton was benched the entire season. He is the goalie to watch in the 2013-2014 season. Lets skip Van Rhijn and move on to Patrick van Aanholt, who had a decent season at Vitesse Arnhem. Loaned out by Chelsea but the player is keen on extending his loan for another year. He has improved immensely this season both in attacking and defending and I could see Chelsea wanting to sell the player this summer, could be a bargain for any lower table club.

The fourth player: Tonny Vilhena is one of many Feyenoord youth players that have come through this season and some of them are heavily scouted in the past few months. Vilhena along with Boëtius, Clasie, Mulder, De Vrij, Martins Indi and Janmaat have all shown incredible progress despite their youth, 21 on average, they look very mature and composed on the pitch. De Vrij recently extended his contract with a year and Feyenoord is keen on cashing in this summer, but not at all costs. Jordy Clasie is a pain in the butt so far for Feyenoord, refusing to sign a new contract he has only one year left on his current. Either Feyenoord have to sell him or watch him walk out for free next year. Contract negotiations have been going on for months now but Clasie deems all offers so far as unworthy of a player of his stature and he demands higher wages. This 21 year old gutsy player on the pitch may be small, 5 foot 6, but his stamina and mentality is incredible. Feyenoord are in a tough position which could force them to sell, and this in turn could be a big bargain.

Adam Maher, in the previous editions of my transfer target blogs I named him as a priority target and this summer it looks like it's finally time for him to leave AZ Alkmaar. Ajax are keen to replace Eriksen and are eager to get Maher but PSV Eindhoven are also in the hunt for this 19 year old midfielder which will cost them a lot, between 7 and 10 million euro's, for the Eredivisie that is silly money. PSV are also wanting to buy him because they will likely sell off half their squad this summer, they other half's contracts are running out. Waterman, Van Bommel, Bouma, Engelaar and Hutchinson will leave the club this summer as free agents. Pieters and Toivonen have one year left on their contracts, Lens, Mertens and Strootman are heavily linked with Premier League clubs, and PSV are very keen on selling as they are in big financial problems if the EU court rules that the financial support through Eindhoven County was illegal. PSV will have to repay 42 million euro's if that happens. Most of the players have contract till 216 or 2017 but Marcelo, Zanka and Tim Matavz all have been deemed light weights and may be sold cheaply this summer. The last player in the picture is Luciano Narsingh, who experienced a season he will soon forget, injured for 6 months, benched by Dick Advocaat but in the games he did play he still showed he is a top talent. And he is the man to watch next season if either Lens or Mertens are sold.

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No I haven't forgotten him, I just saved the best for last: Wilfried Bony. He is going, to where? No one knows. Vitesse managed to hang on to the Ivory Coast player but they have to let him go this summer. The Eredivisie top scorer in the 2012-2013 season has made up his mind in the winter but no bids came in. With 31 goals this year he was watched by scouts from every major club in Europe. With two years left on his contract the clubs will have to pay the price for this player, somewhere between 10 and 18 million pounds. There is no possible way to put an accurate price tag on him as Chelsea might have a discount as Vitesse is their satellite club. Bony isn't the only target at Vitesse however. Marco van Ginkel, Gael Kakuta and Renato Ibarra have all been linked with clubs in the Premier league and are all names to watch this summer or next season. Kakuta is like Van Aanholt on loan from Chelsea but Ibarra and Van Ginkel are potential bargains as they are young with a lot of potential, but not as hyped as Bony or Eriksen.

To conclude this blog we move to FC Twente where there are two players that are worth mentioning: Tadic and Chadli. These two attacking mid fielders have carried Twente this season and are both technically as tactically possibly the two best players in the Eredivisie. Chadli is maybe a bit injury prone but Tadic has been very constant and has been a key player for Twente this season. Chadli is already heavily linked with Fulham and Shakthar Donetsk. Another player that deserves mentioning is Douglas, this central defender has been neutralized to play for the Dutch National squad but due to a somewhat disappointing season he hasn't been selected by Louis van Gaal and his contract is running out this summers. So this is a bargain all right, but maybe not the kind a club wants, or needs. The very last name in this blog is Leroy Fer, after a deal with Everton fell through in the winter the player is still keen to make a move to England. I personally doubt it will happen but with Moyes gone, maybe a couple of players will follow which means that Everton might have a go at him again.

And that's it! You've been briefed for this summer, hope you enjoyed the read!

 

Alderwiereld/Douglas and one of Maher/DeJong/Eriksen/Vilhena would be great with me, no to Bony.

 

Thanks for this Cove.
As informative as ever.
I was drinking with another Dutch lad at a wedding last night (Twente fan from Herenveen) and he spoke very highly of Tadic.
As for who I want to see come in.... it's Bony all the way but I have a nagging feeling he is destined for a bigger team.

 

Thanks ACS, too bad not many people seem interested in my stuff on the NUFC board...

 

it's really quiet today fella, not many posts have been commented on across the whole board.

 

Bony would be a great signing, strong, quick and gets goals. Would compliment Cisse very well. I'd take a punt on Douglas too, he's a free transfer and lets face it he's better than Williamson so it would improve the squad which is what we need to do.

We have no chance of getting Eriksen and I don't want us to get De Jong simply because Pardew will turn him in to the new Jonas given that he can play pretty much anywhere.

 

You left Jozy Altidore off your list. He didn't do very well with Hull City, but seems to be scoring at will this season. 23 goals in 34 games for AZ...

 

That's because I wouldn't consider him as an option for any club outside the Eredivisie, Ajax and PSV might be interested if they sell a few players but I think it's highly unlikely that he will go back to the Premier League or Bundesliga this Summer. But if I was to extend the list I would put him and Finnbogasson on there, but simply because I could only write 10.000 characters I couldn't.

 

What would you say are Bony's main strength and weaknesses Cove? I have seen very little but he does seem very very strong. Not all that quick but clearly knows where the net is.

Who do you think are the most realistic targets for a club like Newcastle? Obviously we were able to attract Anita but I'd imagine our stock has fallen a bit. How are we viewed by the dutch clubs/players after such a terrible season?

Douglas - any news on this front as we'd quite like to see him added to strengthen our defensive options.

 

Thought Douglas to Roma was pretty much done?

I'm not convinced we'll be diving back into the Eredivisie. Tiote's been shocking and Anita didn't really sparkle (yes, it's Pardew's fault, but he's also still the manager). I think the main men from Holland will start to look at the Bundesliga anyway, as they seem to have a little more about them than cash. Eriksen is pretty much nailed on to replace Gotze, we already lost Luuk De Jong there last season, so I think more eyes will be drawn in that direction.

 

Well to be honest, I've been out of the country for over a third of the year now so can't give an accurate picture there but the Anita transfer hasn't done any good. Anita played well, made a good impression and was solid, yet got benched by a manager who grew more out of touch with his team. His tactics are dodgy and he hasn't managed to get the team to play good, quality football, which is a big pre for any Eredivisie player. Not just the money or playing time, but how a team performs is pretty important. Douglas might just join you because he is a free agent now, but if any other will follow, I highly doubt it to be honest.

Bony's main strength and his weakness at the same time is his body, his endurance, stamina and power is immense, one of the strongest players in the league. but it's also his weakness. he is slow, acceleration is poor and his top speed is sometimes just pathetic. Completely unsuitable for counter attacking football. But for a target man in the box he is a beast, agile, swift and a quick thinker. He knows how to score from the most impossible angles and he is a very intelligent player on the pitch. But I do have some question marks when it comes to his morale, I haven't seen him rock bottom or a dry spell in the past 3 years. But when he was out of his depth at sometimes reflected on his mentality. I could be wrong but I think he is the type of player that needs a kick in the butt once in a while, to get motivated.

 

Should write in invisible ink and fool the program.

 

Anybody remember the next Ronaldo?

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I am so having the urge right now neg rep you...

For all the reasons in this thread:

http://www.not606.com/showthread.php/213589-Eredivisie-Summer-transfer-targets-2013?p=4801618&viewfull=1#post4801618

 

Rep

 

The multi talented RONNIE RONALDE. (Especially for Obi)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=slJbLw-d82I

 

It seems to me that Anita has been really let down. I really think he could be a quality for us but probably told pardew where to stick it after being told to just punt it to Jonas every time he gets the ball so was benched. Could be wrong of course as don't see him in training every day

 

WTF?

Where do you find these things AB?

and How is that especially for me?