Fifteen-year-old Willem de Groot can dream of a switch to Juventus. The youth player of NEC Nijmegen did an internship there two weeks ago, while afterwards he was also allowed to come on trial at Sassuolo. The already tall goalkeeper will celebrate his sixteenth birthday in June and may then sign a contract with one of the clubs from the Serie A.
By Thijs Verhaar
Dennis te Braak, as head of youth training at NEC, explains that he understands that the fifteen-year-old of 1.96 meters has been noticed by the Italian clubs, but is still a bit cautious. “He is of course extremely tall for his age, but it remains very difficult to say whether he has what it takes to succeed in Italy. That depends on many factors. Will his parents move with you? How will his potential new club guide him? Can the study there also be well combined with sports? Is he mentally ready for the next step? These are all things that can hinder a breakthrough, although as a club you naturally try to rule out coincidence as much as possible. ”
In addition, according to Te Braak, it remains to be seen how the personality of the keeper develops. At the age of fifteen, De Groot is still in the middle of puberty and it also demands a lot from a child to settle down in a new environment, according to the NEC policymaker. “In any case, he has a good natural build to grow. That is where it starts. And for him this is in any case a very good opportunity to take a look behind the scenes at such clubs, because they train differently than here. It is good for him to experience that and then he can decide together with his parents what is best for him. ”
Te Braak naturally hopes that the talent that came over from Feyenoord last year will remain in Nijmegen, but De Groot wants to release his choice. “We look purely at the best interests of the child. What is good for him and what do the parents want? If they jointly believe in NEC’s plan, he may continue to follow the training program with us. And if he thinks that the conditions elsewhere are better, we don’t want to deprive him of that opportunity, ”said the head of youth education. It is about what Willem feels best about, because our vision is also that we help our talents to become responsible for their choices. ”
The only 15-year-old goalkeeper Willem de Groot from the youth of NEC made a great impression during his internship at Juventus. This week he was also allowed to test at Sassuolo. #nec #juventus #sassuolo #willemdegroot #footballzone pic.twitter.com/V1bDwmFnNU
– @ThijsVerhaar (@Thijs_Verhaar) April 3, 2021
If he stays with NEC, De Groot will have to be patient. According to Dutch regulations, the club may in theory hand out a contract to a fifteen-year-old, but Te Braak indicates that this is not yet the case. Although the club is strongly committed to the flow from the youth academy, it must also pay attention to the money. “Our budget is not so big that we can hand out youth contracts quickly. We therefore have to make choices and apply the policy that we reward children if they have really gone through a good development. ” Te Braak recognizes De Groot’s talent, but is not tempted by the interest of other clubs to give the keeper a contract more quickly.
NEC therefore consciously takes the risk that De Groot decides to leave the club in June, which would be in contrast to players such as Joep van der Sluijs, Thomas Beekman, Dirk Proper, Bart van Rooij and Souffian El Karouani, who come from the Nijmegen youth academy. all of them have become basic players of the main force. “That’s right. Willem has to do what he thinks is best. If he and his parents and agent come to the conclusion that he can develop better elsewhere, then that is his right. We will see what happens. In any case, no one will take this experience away from him. ”
Father Wim de Groot leaves a comment Football zone know that his son returned to the Netherlands on Friday evening and can look back on an instructive time. “These are all experiences that he can put in his backpack. It is also a nice boost for him that he has again aroused the interest of foreign clubs. He could have stayed with Arsenal last year, but due to the regulations surrounding Brexit, that ultimately did not yield anything. Yet they were the first to wish him success when they heard that he was joining Juventus last week, ”said the proud father, who says NEC has looked after his son ‘wonderfully’ after his return from England and departure from Feyenoord. “We are very grateful to Dennis and the club for that. He’s still enjoying himself in Nijmegen, so we’ll see which path he eventually chooses. ”
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