Summer Transfer Targets Eredivisie

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The 2013-14 season is over and with the World Cup ahead of us, this summer is going to be very tricky when it comes to picking the right transfer targets for the next one. In the Eredivisie, this is especially true, as this year has been one of exciting new talents but also of many players regressing or completely fading away.

In my previous transfer targets blogs I was raving on about Siem de Jong for example, but he had an absolute nightmare of a season. Injured for nearly 70% of the season and in the games he played he was nowhere near last year’s form. At 25 he is ready to go abroad but after a horrible year, he is a serious risk for managers: Injury prone and not in form for 12 months. Another case is Stefan de Vrij, and even though almost every top club is looking into buying him, I would strongly advise against it. The 22-year old centre back was out of form, especially in the first half of the season. He didn’t seem to be concentrated or wanting to put effort into his development as a prospect. Manager Ronald Koeman gave him captaincy at the start of the season in August but it quickly became apparent that he was not ready to handle the responsibility and lacked character to lead. And after a couple of weeks the captaincy went to Graziano Pellè. Lazio is putting in bids for De Vrij who is in the pre-selection for the World Cup, but if he moves to a different competition, I have no doubt he will utterly fail wherever he goes at the moment, he’s just not ready.

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De Vrij on his way to Lazio Roma?​

If there is one player ready to go its Graziano Pellè. He has been performing fantastically for Feyenoord and for a second season he punched in more than twenty goals. Even though he never really performed outside the Eredivisie, he has never seemed more focussed and had a higher work rate than this season. He carried the team to second place, and even sometimes got carried away himself. I blame the infamously renowned Italian Temper for what happened.
[video=youtube;sEDqbmf8Ixc]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sEDqbmf8Ixc[/video]

There are a lot of players that have regressed or haven’t made any progress at all. At FC Twente there is only one player that should be on the target’s list for this summer: Dusan Tadic. The 25 year old AM/RW is the best player in the team and he has got the experience and skills to make a decent player for the lower table teams in the Premier League. His technique and tactics are superb; he is a player that can turn a match around. And after another season where he did alright, I think he is ready to take the next step.

But the biggest prospect of the league is Memphis Depay. This 19 year old winger from PSV has been absolutely magnificent this season. He is quick, his technique is brilliant and the fame and glory hasn’t gone to his head. Unlike Adam Maher who has been a ghost this season and yet felt it was right still to have the stardom antics, he’s a definite DON’T BUY. But Depay has made tremendous progress this season and is a joy to watch, and probably the only one to watch at PSV. The club from Eindhoven arguably has the best squad in the Eredivisie. Yet this assembly of the best youth prospects in The Netherlands just fails to make it work. Maher, Wijnaldum, Bruma, Rekik and Willems have looked completely out of their depth and all had a horrible season and were very fortunate to reach fourth place in the competition after they were 10th in halfway through the season.

The last target for this summer is Alfred Finnbogason. The striker is in his second season at SC Heerenveen and he bagged 29 goals this year making him the top scorer in the Eredivisie. Don’t be fooled by that number, most of the goals came from penalty kicks. He has made progress this season but he still needs loads of chances to score. His finishing is superb but somehow seems very wasteful with the opportunities he gets. Last summer he tried to force his way out of the club but he has realized that antics don’t help when you’re trying to get clubs to buy you. Since then he has been quieter, more mature, and to me he looks ready to make the next step. But I have my doubts about him moving to the Premier League, with the limited amount of chances and physical style of play in England, I’d rather go for the German or Spanish league for Finnbogason.

The bargains for this summer are few and risky. Ajax striker Sigthorsson has one year left on his contract and is seen as not good enough for the Amsterdam side. But even though he only scored 8, the ones has made were extremely crucial to win the league this season. He scored the winners against PSV and Feyenoord. But he is injury-prone and weak physically and in the air, but for 3 million GBP, could be a cheap risk to take. At Feyenoord Daryl Janmaat has played a solid season, probably the only defender in the Eredivisie that has made good progress this year. He will likely play in Brazil and Van Gaal seems poised to bring him to Manchester United. He also has one year left on his contract and so far he doesn’t seem to want to extend it, so after a hopefully successful World Cup, could be the bargain of the year. He should be bought for his offensive qualities however, not his defensive where he can get caught out of position sometimes. He is a solid defender but his focus is on the attack.

Now I will end this blog with the hot prospects. The first one is Zivkovich. 17 years old and already a star player for FC Groningen. This youngster was bought in the winter by Ajax and he will likely take over the position of Sigthorsson, this kid is the one to watch for next season. The talent he is showing already is truly fantastic and it just may be that we Dutch have our new super star striker(I’ve got some serious knock-on-wood to do now). The biggest talent though is Hakim Ziyech, this CM/AM from SC Heerenveen has his contract up next summer but he is far from ready to go abroad. This 21 year old has been outstanding this season along with 19 year old winger Bilal Basacikoglu. The two have been the driving force behind Marco van Basten’s Heerenveen and supplied their top striker Alfred Finnbogason with a many sublime passes and crosses. The two players are consistently performing well and they make it look like they’re having fun on the pitch.

The other prospects to watch are Joël Veltman and Ricardo Kishna at Ajax. Veltman seems like the new Frank de Boer, agile, quick and mentally strong. He also screws up big once a match, usually to such extent that the opposition can score. At 22 years of age and with only one full season under his belt though, he looks like a good prospect for the next couple of years. Ricardo Kishna has been a first team player since March, but already the kid is turning heads in the Arena. His agility and top speed make him an excellent winger and he creates action on the pitch. Viktor Fischer is out of the picture and if Kishna can develop his talents next year even more, he will be one of the top targets for next two or three summers.

Pricetags:

Graziano Pellè 10 million GBP
Memphis Depay 8 million GBP
Dusan Tadic: 6 million GBP
Siem de Jong 6 million
Daryl Janmaat 5.5 million
Alfred Finnbogason 5 million
Stefan de Vrij 5 million
Joël Veltman 4.5 million
Sigthorsson 3 million
Ziyech 2.5 million
Basacikoglu 2 million
Ricardo Kishna 1.5 million

 

Interesting. Thanks, Cove.

 

What about Jordy Clasie? He's being linked to a lot of teams in the Premier League. What do you know about him?

 

From what I posted on the ManU board:

Decent midfielder, but IMO not very special. He's a Sneijder type midfielder but without the free kicks and brilliant passing, occasionally does have a brilliant pass. His main attributes are his positioning and work rate, he is a Strootman and Dirk Kuyt combined. He is a presence on midfield and he can go on all day like Kuyt. He is very small though, I think Peter Dinklage is taller than him(figuratively speaking). Dont think he will settle well in the EPL, think he will suit better in Spain or Germany.

 

Great insight as always Cove.

 

Sounds like a Britton type of guy...