Thursday, May 19, 2022 at 08:37• Jordi Tomasowa • Last update: 08:40

The chance seems small that Feyenoord will still have Cyriel Dessers and Reiss Nelson after this season, it writes General Newspaper† Dessers is on loan from KRC Genk, while Nelson is under contract with Arsenal. Despite an option to buy four million euros, the final arrival of the Belgian striker is becoming increasingly difficult due to his impressive statistics in the Conference League and the interest of other clubs with it.

Technical director Frank Arnesen already gave the opposite on Wednesday Football International indicates that the definitive acquisition of Dessers involves more for Feyenoord than just putting the agreed option amount of four million euros on the table. In conversation with the General Newspaper Arnesen speaks similar words. “Dessers seemed to go from Genk to Leganes on a rental basis last summer. Only at the very last moment did that deal fall off and then we came into the picture. Shortly before the deadline, we negotiated a transfer fee, but there was no time left to discuss the contract conditions with the player himself,” said Arnesen.

Dessers was good for twenty goals and seven assists in forty official matches on behalf of Feyenoord this season. Especially in the Conference League, the 27-year-old striker knows how to impress. With ten goals, Dessers is the top scorer in the European tournament, and he can increase that number even further during the final against AS Roma on May 25. Due to his scoring ability, the Belgian has now aroused the interest of clubs from the major competitions, making it difficult for Feyenoord to offer Dessers a lucrative contract. “I don’t use the option to light up if I couldn’t work it out with the player himself,” says Arnesen.

Feyenoord also hopes to have access to Arsenal mercenary Reiss Nelson for longer. The 22-year-old attacker was rented from Arsenal at the last minute during the summer transfer window, after the signing of Amad Diallo (Manchester United) had gone wrong. The Englishman had trouble finding his place in Rotterdam and had to identify Alireza Jahanbakhsh in the starting eleven for a long time. Since March, however, Nelson can invariably count on a place in the line-up of trainer Arne Slot. Especially in terms of assists, the counter of the right winger has increased considerably: since mid-March he has been able to add no less than seven in all competitions. Arnesen just doesn’t believe that Nelson can still be admired in De Kuip next season. “Arsenal no longer rents out players in their last contract year,” says Arnesen. “Keeping Nelson is almost impossible for us.”