Clubs from the Eredivisie officially have until Tuesday 31 August to put their selections in order, but the first important measuring moment is already there with the start of the competition. Who have assured themselves of serious acquisitions and who still have to work? football zone makes an analysis per position of which new players you can expect the most in advance.
The team most promising acquisitions in the Eredivisie as of Wednesday 11 August 23:59.
Before the start of this season, a striking number of goalkeepers changed clubs in the Eredivisie. Lars Unnerstall went from PSV to FC Twente and Joël Drommel went the opposite way, Ajax robbed Go Ahead Eagles and Vitesse of their first goalkeepers, who in turn have also achieved a new number 1. RKC Waalwijk has perhaps the most surprising keeper in the house with Joel Pereira. The Portuguese once played with Manchester United in the Premier League and has now been brought in on a free transfer by the Waalwijkers. However, it is questionable what his level is now, because last year he barely played minutes as a mercenary at Huddersfield Town.
We therefore expect more from Danny Vukovic of NEC. The PhD student incorporated the 36-year-old Australian on a free transfer after he had his contract terminated at Racing Genk. He was the first goalkeeper for the Belgians for many years, but temporarily returned to his homeland for the birth of his second child. In the preparation, however, he looks top fit and ready to prove himself. Drommel will also want to do the same, because he has switched to PSV to show that he is ready for a role in the Dutch national team. His start in the European campaign is rock solid, so he is the first goalkeeper of our fictional team.
At right back, the preference is narrowly to Marcus Pedersen of Feyenoord. He came over from Molde FK this summer, just like his compatriot Aslak Fonn Witry made the switch from Djurgardens to AZ. He must make Jonas Svensson forget with the Alkmaarders. The same challenge is faced by Phillipp Mwene at PSV. He is considered the successor of Denzel Dumfries who has not yet left. However, the Eindhoven team does not take into account that last season’s captain will remain, so Mwene only has to battle with Jordan Teze. He seems to be able to win it and with that he has earned a place in our reserve team that is at the bottom of the article. There is also an honorable mention for Milan van Ewijk and for Laurent Jans. The latter is a 77-times Luxembourg international who will work for Sparta Rotterdam and Van Ewijk exchanged ADO Den Haag for sc Heerenveen this summer.
André Ramalho was the captain of Red Bull Salzburg before he made the switch to PSV.
André Ramalho, Gernot Trauner and Sam Beukema form the three-man defense of our team. The former two add a lot of experience and quality to the defenses of PSV and Feyenoord respectively, while Beukema can prove himself at AZ. The youngster was crowned the greatest talent of the Kitchen Champion Division last season. He has been able to sign a five-year contract and all the conditions seem to be in place to quickly emerge as the new leader of the Alkmaar defense. Ramalho, in turn, was already familiar with the system of PSV coach Roger Schmidt and has already proven his added value in the much closer defense of the Eindhoven team this season. Trauner only played one official game at Feyenoord and was able to immediately convince former coach Mario Been in the Conference League: “Very strong in the duels, he does not shy away from duels and wins almost every header. I think he is really an improvement for Feyenoord.”
In addition to the three new acquisitions for the top clubs, more central defenders have been added to the Eredivisie, which bring the necessary expectations. NEC hires Brazilian youth international Rodrigo Guth from Atalanta and Willem II has brought in a 25-year-old mandekker with Ulrik Jenssen who played more than fifty youth international matches for Norway. Once he was also in the national A-selection, but he did not make a debut yet. For him, however, the transfer from Nordsjaelland to the Eredivisie is a nice step up, so who knows that he can still join Tilburg service. Marin Sverko can hope the same at FC Groningen. The 23-year-old Croat once played youth internationals for Germany Under-15 and is now a fixture in Croatia’s national youth selections, where he is tipped as a future A-international.
AS Monaco secures purchase of ten million for two years in Utrecht
FC Utrecht has also negotiated an option to buy the French youth international.
In the left back position it was FC Utrecht that conjured a very unexpected rabbit out of the top hat. The Domstedelingen have fortified themselves with none other than Arthur Zagre. The nineteen-year-old defender comes over from AS Monaco on a rental basis for two seasons. In the deal with the Ligue 1 club, Utrecht also stipulated an option to buy. The left-back was trained by Paris Saint-Germain, where he made his first-team debut as a 17-year-old. Monaco took him over after the season as an eighteen-year-old for no less than ten million euros, but that step turned out badly. A loan to Dijon also offered no solace, but Utrecht has previously shown that it can handle pearls from French football. He is therefore preferred in our team over Ruben Roosken, who became one of the revelations in the Kitchen Champion Division at TOP Oss last season and can now try a higher level at Heracles Almelo.
In midfield, it is once again PSV and Feyenoord who have struck hard. The people of Eindhoven were able to definitively recruit Marco van Ginkel after four loan spells from Chelsea and as captain, the finally pain-free playmaker is the ideal leader of this PSV, which, incidentally, welcomed a solid quality injection with Davy Pröpper. Feyenoord in turn did this with mercenary Guus Til, who is already scoring continuously in a European context and as the current ‘number 10’ fits perfectly into Arne Slot’s game system. Fredrik Aursnes, who came over from Molde FK, also provides the necessary balance in the Rotterdam midfield. Vitesse also did good business with the transfer-free arrival of Swiss youth international Toni Domgjoni, while PEC Zwolle and FC Twente have brought some old acquaintances back to the Eredivisie by attracting Ilias Bel Hassani and Michel Vlap (rent). Sparta in turn offers a stage to the talented AZ mercenary Kenzo Goudmijn.
Guus Til has already scored five times in three matches in the preliminary rounds of the Conference League.
On the right winger, our team has of course made room for the man of the most controversial transfer in the Eredivisie summer. Steven Berghuis left Feyenoord for Ajax and makes a very passionate impression there. As a former captain of the Rotterdam team, he wanted a new challenge and more prizes to play football. He now gets that chance in Amsterdam, where his main competitor Antony is missing for the time being due to his participation in the Olympic Games won with Brazil. The departure of Berghuis logically led to great disappointment among the Feyenoord public, but they do get an excellent player in return with Alireza Jahanbakhsh. Technical director Frank Arnesen committed a nice coupe by taking over the attacker from Brighton Hove & Albion for only one million euros. With his 28 years, the Iranian has the experience to be there directly with the Rotterdam team and in the service of AZ he has of course already proven that he is one of the best players in the Eredivisie.
For the striker position we have to go to FC Twente, Go Ahead Eagles, Vitesse and AZ. The Alkmaarders took over Vangelis Pavlidis from Willem II, where he has become an absolute trendsetter. It is up to the Greek to make Myron forget Boadu. That will be a tough one for him, but with his game he fits perfectly into the game that trainer Pascal Jansen has in mind. That is why he is narrowly preferred to FC Twente’s Manfred Ugalde in our team. The only nineteen-year-old Costa Rican is under contract with Manchester City branch Lommel FC and can show himself next season in the Grolsch Veste. In Belgium he already ran 1 out of 2 last season and expectations are therefore high, as they also expect a lot from Marc Cardona at the Eagles. The Spaniard once played with Barcelona in the Champions League and is now rented out by Osasuna to the people of Deventer. Finally, keep an eye out for Nikolai Baden Frederiksen from Vitesse. He comes from the youth of Juventus and destroyed the Austrian Bundesliga last season as a mercenary from WSG Tirol.
At the front left of our team, a spot has finally been made for growth brilliant Filip Stevanovic. The only eighteen-year-old Serb was bought at the beginning of this year for no less than 8.5 million euros by Manchester City, which leased him to his old club Partizan Belgrade for another six months. Now he can gain experience in Friesland for two years. Stevanovic is narrowly preferred in our team over Yann Gboho from Vitesse, who is also an absolute asset to the Eredivisie because of his enormous potential. The multiple French youth international already gained experience in the Champions League at Stade Rennes and now opts for a year of playing time in the Netherlands on a rental basis. And because a transfer overview of the Eredivisie is not complete without at least one surprise from Ted van Leeuwen, we also point out Magnus Mattsson of NEC. As a 22-year-old captain of Silkeborg, he scored no less than 22 times at the second level in Denmark last season and is eager to repeat that trick at the highest level in the Netherlands.
NEC, FC Twente and Vitesse have also already managed to bring in some promising acquisitions.