please log in to view this image Traditionally In England the first of July is the opening of the transfer market, it's that time of the year again when clubs can sign new players, or lose their players. I'm specifically not saying 'ditch' or 'get rid of' because in the Eredivisie, the yearly exodus in the summer is seen as a loss for fans. So when the transfer market opens, you'd expect the Dutch football fans to be in mourning, saying goodbye to their beloved star players. Not this time though, because most of the talents have left the country before the market even opened. In one of my previous blogs I wrote about the phenomenon that clubs already start negotiating and bidding on players in the Eredivisie as soon as the start of April, ironing out any problems so that a deal can be made quickly in May and June. And this year particularly they've been busy, with dozens of players leaving the Eredivisie in June, so here is a round up before it's the first of July: please log in to view this image Jeremain Lens, PSV -> Dynamo Kiev (9 million euro's) Dries Mertens, PSV -> Napoli (9.5 million euro's) Erik Pieters, PSV -> Stoke City (3.5 million euro's) Miralem Sulejmani, Ajax -> Benfica(Free agent) Ryan Babel, Ajax -> Kasimpasa(Free agent) Filip Djuricic, SC Heerenveen -> Benfica(6 million euro's) Jeffrey Gouweleeuw, SC Heerenveen -> AZ Alkmaar (undisclosed) Adam Maher, AZ Alkmaar -> PSV (8 million euro's) Leandro Bacuna, FC Groningen -> Aston Villa(1 million) Virgil van Dijk, FC Groningen -> Celtic (2.5 million) Nemanja Gudelj, NAC Breda -> AZ Alkmaar (3 million) Jeffrey Bruma, Chelsea -> PSV (3 million) Sanharib Malki, Roda JC -> Kasimpasa (1.5 million) Kyle Ebicilio, Arsenal -> FC Twente(Free agent) Nana Asare, FC Utrecht -> AA Gent(undisclosed) Jan Wuytens, FC Utrecht -> AZ Alkmaar(Free agent) *Stretches his neck and hands* A long list for just the month of June(Djuricic transfer excluded). A hectic months and the clubs have already cashed in a tens of millions of euro's and this will likely continue in the next two months. Money is rolling right now and this year's out-flux of players is far from over. By September first most of the clubs will have a complete new first team(mostly because they bought or loaned 11 new players, or in some cases pushed through a couple of youth players). Thus far only Feyenoord and Ajax have managed to cling on to their players, but for how much longer? The transfer rumours around Eriksen , De Vrij and De Jong have subsided in the past few weeks. PSV have sold their forwards and Ola Toivonen is likely to go to Norwich any time soon. July 1st is coming, but the market has opened weeks ago, But as always, I'll keep you posted when rumours pop up when they involve the Eredivisie. Signing off, Cove
Nice article Cove! Noticed that Ryan Babel is on your list... What happened with him? Did Ajax want to keep him or did they release him? And is there any new developments on Wilfried Bony? Seems very heavily linked with Swansea? If he does come to the Premier League, it will be interesting to see how he gets on as strikers coming to the Premier League from Holland seem to have mixed records!
Babel had only a one year contract, Ajax offered him an extension but he weighed his options and went to Turkey for the big bucks. It very much looks like Bony is going to Swansea but he made a big fuss about wages before, wrecked transfer deals in the past when he deemed them too low. And strikers from the Netherlands seem to do pretty well actually: Suarez and Van Persie to name two
The money he's getting paid in Turkey must be decent! I would have thought staying in Ajax would have been appealing though... Will be interesting to see if the Bony deal goes through! His record in previous seasons has been very good (Especially last season!) and will be interesting to see how he adapts if he does move. Can't deny that there have been success stories but I know a Middlesbrough fan and I don't think they were too happy with the signing of Afonso Alves! Though his rather large failure in England might have swayed my thinking somewhat!
I spewed my guts out on the Spurs board a month ago: Afonso Alves was a big tosser and everybody knew it in The Netherlands, Heerenveen wanted to get rid of the player and Middlesborough fell for it. Every Dutch football fan laughed at them because we all knew what they were getting themselves into. So that joke is on Middlesborough, don't put that on the Eredivisie. Because: Vertonghen, Dembele, Vermaelen, Vorm, Tiote, Krul, Stekelenburg, Bryan Ruiz, Yoshida, Hooiveld, Vlaar, Heitinga, Pienaar, Nigel de Jong, Van der Vaart, Zenden, Robben and way more if I go back in time have all crossed over from the Eredivisie and done rather well me thinks.
Touché! You've probably got me there! Though I do think the likes of Bryan Ruiz & Heitinga are slightly hit & miss... Ruiz seems to be unplayable one day & completely out of it the next. And Heitinga seems to have dropped off massively of late. But I think your original point probably stands up. I think the Alves deal in in particular seems to stick in the mind far more than the the success stories. Why was he so poorly thought of in Holland? Attitude problems? Because his scoring record was certainly decent for Heerenveen!
Stardom got to him basically. Got cocky and was a diva on the pitch. Bad mentality and bad tempered as well. Just the attitude all around was off. And on Heitinga, Everton voted him in 2012 as player of the year. He didn't get much playing time last year because he fell out of favour with Moyes. And he hasn't extended his contract because of it. Will likely move on to a new club this summer.
Just got the news in that Feyenoord are enquiring Liverpool about Assaïdi. They'd like to buy him when they are able to sell off one of their players this summer. Ronald Koeman wants another left winger because Jean Paul Boëtius had knee surgery and is out for the start of this season. But to be honest, it's a long shot as none of the Feyenoord players are heavily linked right now, just a couple of rumours.
Where's Van Ginkel going to be heading? A few suitors no doubt. Assaidi hasn't quite lived up to the hype, shame because he has potential.
Vitesse are asking way too much for clubs in the Eredivisie could spend on a 19 year old who played one good season. Around 7/8 million euro's. Ajax is not willing to pay that sum. Chelsea is still in the run but I doubt his agent is keen on that move because he will probably be loaned out straight away. So a good guess would be that he will stay put at Vitesse for another season, maybe even two. Assaïdi hasn't failed Liverpool much, Rodgers never really gave him a chance to compete on the wings with Sterling, Downing, Coutinho, Sturridge and Borini all playing on those positions. Those all cost more than Assaïdi did and therefore are getting playing time. And now you've got Aspas coming in as well. The guy has no chance whatsoever now. Shame because he needs games to excel, not just a game here and there in Europa and the cup games. Can't see why Rodgers played Borini over him...
I believe Assaidi wasn't a 'Rodgers' signing - I read somewhere that Jen Chang (ex communication director) was the one who recommend him. It's not an excuse not to play him but I feel this is the reason. Contrary to other people's opinion, I did rate him and felt he did a more than decent job when he finally got the chance.
7/8 million euros sounds reasonable, well this day in age atleast. I'd like to see him stay and develop, may sneak into Holland's 23? Assaidi didn't do enough for me, maybe a loan spell in la liga would do him a favour.
