FC Groningen said goodbye to Tom van de Looi on Monday afternoon. The Pride of the North reports the departure of the 21-year-old midfielder to Brescia through official channels. Van de Looi has relegated for several years to last season’s Serie A. Rondinelle connected.

The newcomer is described in the Italian press as the ‘successor of Sandro Tonali’. The top talent recently completed his transition to AC Milan, leaving a gap in Brescia’s midfield. With Van de Looi in the ranks, coach Luigi Delneri will try to achieve a return to the highest level immediately next season.

For Van de Looi an employment contract of ten years with FC Groningen comes to an end. The youth international made its official debut in the main force in January 2018 and would eventually make 35 appearances, 24 of which as a basic player. Last season, the son of FC Groningen’s ex-trainer and current national coach of the Dutch Junior Team, Erwin van de Looi, played on a rental basis for NEC.

“Tom is a boy from the region and has managed to reach the first team through the trajectory from training as a young player. Last season we rented him out to NEC for further development. After preparing for the first selection of FC Groningen, the prospect of many minutes of play was not great, after which we looked together at how to deal with this”, technical director Mark-Jan Fledderus responds to the deal.

“This has resulted in a permanent solution with a transfer to Italy. A great adventure for Tom, in which we wish him unbelievable success. We also thank him for all the years he has presented himself in the FC Groningen shirt”.