On June 30 at 00:00 AM, the necessary contracts worldwide have ended. Not only Lionel Messi and Jérôme Boateng have been without an employer since then, it will also be exciting weeks for a large number of Dutch people. Voetbalzone lists the fifteen most expensive compatriots. (Market value via Transfermarkt)
Ricardo van Rhijn: 500 thousand euros (last club: FC Emmen). The man with perhaps the most experience in this list. After a period of five years at Ajax, Van Rhijn dropped by Club Brugge, AZ, sc Heerenveen and FC Emmen. He had been under contract with the latter club since the winter, but was unable to avoid relegation to the Kitchen Champion Division. Critics could scornfully say that the native of Leiden never fully fulfilled his promise.
Joey Pelupessy: 500 thousand euros (last club: Sheffield Wednesday). Voetbal International reported last week that Pelupessy will continue his career with the Turkish Giresunspor. The midfielder also had offers from the Netherlands, where FC Groningen, among others, was interested in his services. However, he prefers an adventure with the Turkish PhD student to a return to the Netherlands. Because his contract with Sheffield Wednesday expired, Giresunspor does not have to pay a transfer fee. Pelupessy played 106 games for Sheffield.
Lorenzo Ebecilio: 500 thousand euros (last club: Jubilo Iwata). Ebecilio broke through a decade ago under Frank de Boer at Ajax, where he became champion twice and earned a transfer to Metallurg Donetsk in 2013. That step was the start of a world tour: via FK Qabala, Mordovia Saransk, Anzhi Makhachkala, APOEL Nicosia and Red Star Belgrade, he ended up in Japan with Jubilo Iwata last year. The attacker has now been clubless for more than a year. In the meantime, he has had the opportunity to work at Bali United and in Saudi Arabia, among others, but a new chapter has not yet come.
Mounir El Allouchi: 600 thousand euros (last club: NAC Breda). El Allouchi decided in June not to sign a new contract with NAC. The midfielder has decided to look for a new challenge after nine years. In recent years, El Allouchi has become one of the defining players at the Breda club and last season was especially notable for the large number of assists he provided. In the 2015/16 season he was loaned to Helmond Sport.
Denilho Cleonise: 600 thousand euros (last club: Genoa). Cleonise is transfer-free after his contract with Genoa expired and is currently completing an internship at FC Twente. He was injured during his trial period, but has now finished his first minutes and even managed to score. However, VfB Stuttgart and Sporting Portugal are also concrete in the market for the attacker. Cleonise played for Genoa for the past three years, which took him away from Ajax’s youth academy.
Danny Bakker: 600 thousand euros (last club: Roda JC Kerkrade). Bakker moved to Roda JC on a rental basis at the beginning of October, after having played 183 matches for ADO Den Haag, because he had no prospect of playing time in the Hofstad. He was a fixture at Roda, first as a midfielder and later as a central defender. He was told by ADO that his expiring contract was not extended.
Clint Leemans: 650 thousand euros (last club: De Graafschap). Leemans, who did not always have to count on a base place at PEC Zwolle from trainer John Stegeman, was rented out to De Graafschap for six months in the winter. He narrowly missed promotion to the Eredivisie with the Doetinchemmers. While waiting for a new club, Leemans can currently maintain his condition between the promises of PSV. Leemans was trained at the Eindhoven youth academy and played almost a hundred matches for the U23 team in the Kitchen Champion Division.
Thomas Bruns: 650 thousand euros (last club: Vitesse). After being leased to successively FC Groningen, PEC Zwolle and VVV-Venlo, the Bruns era at Vitesse will definitely come to an end. The midfielder was taken over from Heracles Almelo in 2017, but never really managed to break through in Arnhem. Thomas Letsch will no longer need him next season, so Bruns can look forward to a new club.
Nasser El Khayati: 700 thousand euros (last club: ADO Den Haag). El Khayati would undoubtedly have imagined something different when he returned to ADO Den Haag. The midfielder intended to pull his club from the lower regions of the Eredivisie, but did not succeed. ADO relegated with El Khayati to the Kitchen Champion Division for the first time since 2008. It was El Khayati’s third term at ADO, having previously been hired from Queens Park Rangers and taken over permanently in 2017.
Luciano Narsingh: 850 thousand euros (last club: FC Twente). Due to the disappearance of the injured Václav Cerný and the end of the rental period of Lazaros Lamprou, who returned to PAOK Saloniki, Twente reported to the transfer market in the winter for an offensive reinforcement. The Enschede players ended up at Narsingh, who was rented from Feyenoord for six months. Narsingh will not return to De Kuip. Arne Slot has indicated that he will not need the attacker next season, so he can look forward to a new employer.
Deroy Duarte: 900 thousand euros (last club: Sparta Rotterdam). Sparta Rotterdam made several attempts to keep Duarte on board, but failed. Duarte thinks the time is right to move to another club. ‘I would like to take a step, in the Netherlands or elsewhere. I think this is the right time. Especially because I hope I can play in my favorite position elsewhere,” he told Algemeen Dagblad.
Jeffrey Bruma: 1.2 million euros (last club: VfL Wolfsburg). Bruma has been under contract with VfL Wolfsburg since 2016. He came over from PSV for approximately 13.5 million euros and has since played 51 official games for die Wölfe. Bruma immediately became a basic player, but suffered a serious knee injury in the course of his debut season. Since then, he has never been able to regain his regular starting spot. In the second half of the 2018/19 season, he was loaned out to Schalke 04; he spent the second half of 2019/20 at 1. FSV Mainz 05. Bruma did not participate in any competition match last season.
Othman El Kabir: 2 million euros (last club: Ural Yekaterinburg). El Kabir’s contract expired on June 30 with the Russian Ural Yekaterinburg. The younger brother of Moestafa El Kabir played as a youth for FC Utrecht and NAC Breda, but then moved abroad for his professional career.
Jetro Willems: 2.5 million euros. (last club: Eintracht Frankfurt). Willems is one of the top candidates to strengthen Newcastle United this summer, The Chronicle recently assured. It would mean his second term at Newcastle for Willems, after he was already hired by the number twelve of the past Premier League season in the 2019/20 season. At the time, however, his share was limited by a serious cruciate ligament injury.
Patrick van Aanholt: 7 million euros. (last club: Crystal Palace). Van Aanholt is on the eve of a transition to Turkey, the BBC recently reported. The defender has an expiring contract and did not receive a new offer from Palace until a new manager was appointed. Even after the appointment of Patrick Vieira, there seems to be no future for Van Aanholt. Galatasaray would like to take advantage of the wait-and-see attitude of the Londoners and have made the left-back an offer.