Thursday, March 17, 2022 at 6:30 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 18:32

Ramiz Zerrouki has signed a new contract with FC Twente, the Tukkers report via the official channels. The 23-year-old midfielder extends his contract for one year and is now committed until mid-2024, with the option of another year. “The new contract feels like a reward to me for the hard work and development I have gone through,” said the Algerian international.

Zerrouki can be considered a late bloomer. The midfielder did not make it in Ajax’s youth academy and had to wait until he was 21 for his debut in the main squad of FC Twente. The Amsterdam-born midfielder then developed rapidly and is now in the base for the second season in a row with the Tukkers, who are having an impressive season. Twente competes with AZ for fourth place, which entitles you to a direct ticket for the preliminary round of the Conference League.

“I want to continue my upward trend at FC Twente,” says Zerrouki, who stands on 59 official duels (4 goals and 2 assists) for the club. “I have been a basic player at Twente for one and a half season and it is positive to see that I reach a certain level, but I also know that I can still take new steps. At Twente I see plenty of opportunities for myself to grow.” A year ago Zerrouki made his debut for the national team of Algeria and at the beginning of this calendar year he was a basic player at the Africa Cup. “It went fast and I got to play a lot for Algeria last year. When I look back on that, it’s pretty special.”

Jan Streuer is happy to tie Zerrouki to Twente longer. “Ramiz has developed very well since his debut in the first selection,” says the technical director. “He has had a longer process from the academy to the first selection and has always worked hard for it. That went through trial and error, but he more than deserved his place in the selection. We are very satisfied with Ramiz’s performance and the It is great that we have been able to bind him to Twente for longer. We believe that he can still take many steps and has a very bright future in football.” Twente sees in Zerrouki a player who in the long run can yield a nice amount of millions, as succeeded last season with Joël Drommel, who was sold to PSV for 3.5 million euros.