Dutch professional footballers can be found in all corners of the world, from the spotlights of the major European leagues to the more adventurous jobs on other continents. In the Over de Grens section, Voetbalzone speaks weekly with a player who is active outside the national borders. With this time attention to Justen Kranthove, who this summer found a new club in the Czech Republic with Slovan Liberec and was on the payroll at Leicester City for two years before that. In his own words, he experienced a top time there, but also experienced the absolute low point in club history from very close by.
By Thijs Verhaar
Do you hear it pronounced as Slovan Li-be-rek or does it sound more like Li-be-rech in Czech? “I always say on his Dutch Li-be rack and nobody corrects me, so that’s about it”, smiles the twenty-year-old centre-back. “Or Slovan. Then I’m sure I’m good, haha.” And he is indeed in the Czech Republic, where he has been active with the three-time champion since April. “Then I started training there and now I can also play matches. At that time I could not yet be registered, so that has been arranged as of 1 July. Now I can officially call myself a Slovan player and I really like that. It’s very different from England, but in a good way. I am enjoying it immensely.”
The born Amsterdammer surprised friend and foe in the summer of 2018 by going from amateur club AFC ’34 to the great Leicester City, while he had no experience at all at a professional club. “I had absolutely nothing to lose. Dutch professional clubs showed no interest, so of course you go. The first weeks were super difficult because I had to work very hard to hook up, but in the end I conquered my spot. I’ve even trained with the first team about thirty or forty times,” it sounds proud. “I simply received specialist training from Kolo Touré and experienced top trainers such as Brendan Rodgers and Claude Puel up close. These are men you can learn a lot from. And I also want to mention assistant Steve Kirby and head coach Trevor Peake of the Under-18. They showed a lot of confidence in me and were the first to give me the chance.”
Kranthove regularly trained with the main squad of Leicester City, but never made his debut in the first. He has now succeeded immediately with Slovan Liberec.
Kranthove worked his way up to basic player of the Under-18, and later also the Under-23. He was one of the youngest selection players of the oldest youth team, but in the spring of 2020 he said he ran into a kind of wall. “The Under-23 coach, Steve Beaglehole, suddenly opted for the older guys on the team. I’ve never heard why, but I noticed that me and the other early transfer boys suddenly couldn’t get a job after we lost a few times. We didn’t get another chance from him, so that’s a real shame. But yes, that’s football too,” he sighs.
It was extra bitter for the Amsterdammer that he was left out at that moment because he was in the last months of his contract. “I still had hope that I could prove myself with a series of matches in the Under-23, but just then the corona crisis broke out and the competition for youth was interrupted,” recalls Kranthove, who, despite his lack of opportunities in the top youth team at that time he regularly trained with the first team. “That again, yes. Sometimes the trainer needs extra players to fill the selection in case of injuries and such. So one day I got the chance and convinced Brendan Rodgers and his staff. He came to me after the first practice and said I would get there if I kept working like this. After that, I was allowed to participate once a week.”
As a result, the twenty-year-old Dutchman was regularly in training with top players such as Jamie Vardy, Ben Chilwell, Youri Tielemans and James Maddison. “And I got a lot of training from the legendKolo Toure. That made me mentally strong. I remember Andy King coming up to me as a veteran of the team and Jonny Evans also telling me to just do my thing. Kasper Schmeichel joked with me and everyone just relaxed. They take you into the group as if you were one of them. That spirit is also what makes the team so good. And that goes for the whole club. I still speak weekly with my teammates from the Under-18, Under-23 and the first team from then.”
Former teammates, because despite Rodgers’ praise, a new contract was not possible for Kranthove. He had hoped for that and secretly perhaps even counted a little bit. “Of course you hope for it. Maybe it would have worked if I was allowed to play more with the Under-23 in my last season, but it didn’t work out like that. Doesn’t matter. I’ve had two great years,” it sounds grateful. I have learned a lot, seen a lot. That I thought: woooow, so this is Premier League level. Nobody can take that experience away from me and I can now only take advantage of that in the Czech Republic.
Shortly after his departure, however, it did not appear that Kranthove would leave England. He was found good enough after an internship at Birmingham City and would sign a contract there, until the director informed him on the last day of his trial week that it would not work. “They first had to rent out players in my position and clubs from the lower divisions had no money because of corona, so they had to keep those other guys on board. Then it is smarter not to include me because otherwise you have too many defenders who all get too little playing time,” the Amsterdammer understands. Because the same thing happened to him again at Watford FC and a contract offer at the Spanish AD Alcorcon did not feel right for him due to poor paperwork, the defender was unable to find a new club in the summer transfer market.
He went back to the Netherlands, worked there for a long time on his physique and finally decided to take it when Slovan Liberec offered him in April to come and train with the intention of enforcing a contract. “They were already preying on me in the summer, so I went there with confidence right away,” he recalls. Kranthove was eager to get back to work and was disappointed that he had not been given a chance at a Dutch club in the winter. “Of course I would have listened to that myself. Every Dutch boy would like to have played in the Eredivisie or in the Kitchen Champion Division, but nothing got going for me. I honestly would have thought there would be more demand for a defender who has played a lot in the youth of Leicester, but maybe they thought my salary would be too expensive,” he seeks a statement. “However, I was just free to pick up.”
However, Slovan Liberec had no doubts in April. After a few days of training, he was told that he would receive a contract and that he would be part of the first team from the current season. “That’s the first time for me. I trained well and immediately noticed that I was taking steps. It is very physical here, a lot of walking. In a way it’s no different than in England, but it’s still good to see that everyone really goes the extra mile. Certainly the top clubs such as Slavia Prague and Sparta Prague blast through for ninety minutes. That is why I also did a lot of extra strength training in the run-up to the season, so that I can participate as well as possible now that I am finally eligible to play.”
He did that on an individual basis, in addition to group training. “The team is great. All nice guys, but it takes some getting used to. At Leicester I played in the Under-23 with all guys my age, of course, while now they’re just big guys. It’s different on the field and in the locker room. Much more professional, different subjects. Fortunately, Michal Sadilek helped me a lot.” The midfielder, now loaned out to FC Twente by PSV, played on a rental basis at Slovan last season and took the young Dutchman in tow there. “He immediately told me that I only had to text if I needed something, so that was nice. He also speaks Dutch quite well and was a real support to me in my first months here. I am very proud of him that he was allowed to go to the European Championship and I hope that he will do well again in the Eredivisie.”
Kranthove himself has now had his first official minutes in Czech service. In the second round he was allowed to come in against Sparta Prague and with that he is ahead of his own schedule. “My goal for this season is of course to create as many opportunities as possible, but that has to be done step by step. Don’t be in a hurry. I first have to get used to Czech football and develop myself in it as much as possible. The basis is not immediately realistic, but hopefully later in the season it will be. In any case, I probably made my first minutes, so I’m very happy with that,” said the twenty-year-old defender, who calls himself ‘footballing strong’, ‘head strong and ruthless’, has ‘quite a bit of speed for my height’. can also play in midfield and have to compete with his team for placement for European football.
That just didn’t work out last season, because Slovan was one point short for a European ticket. “That is often the case for this club, but not this time. It’s a pity that I can’t experience that yet, but for me it might be good to be able to fully focus on the competition and the cup.” “Hopefully that opportunity in Europe will come later. I have a contract here for two years and I am at a club where I can develop well.” Kranthove knows that the best players of his team are frequently bought away by Sparta Prague and Slavia Prague and sees such a scenario for himself in the future. “Then you are suddenly talking about the European sub-top, so who knows what is possible. I’m just going to work hard to make my dreams come true.”
And what does Kranthove dream of if he can let his imagination run wild? Firstly, he would like to play in the Eredivisie someday and he would also love to play against his old club Leicester City in a European context. “Or with Leicester of course, haha. I was so happy for them when they won the FA Cup last season. I cheered loudly as Tielemans shot into that cannonball. This time not Chelsea or Manchester City as cup winners, but for the first time in 137 years the prize went to Leicester. My Leicester. That club will always be in my heart because it is such a beautiful, close-knit team. I also really liked that they dedicated it to the deceased owner. He has done a lot for the club and I also knew his son – who is now the chairman – a bit because he often came to see the youth. He was a very special man.”
Vichai Srivaddhanaprabha crashed on October 27, 2018 with his helicopter, which the Thai billionaire had to bring home after every home game. This time, however, it went horribly wrong. “I saw it happen live up close. I had to jobs doing in the first team, cleaning up the locker room and stuff. So I was just sitting in the taxi with a pile of dirty clothes, when all of a sudden smoke started coming from the helicopter. He turned in circles and then yay, phew. It exploded just outside the stadium. Really bad to see,” whispers Kranthove. “Everyone knew right away that it was wrong and I was also in shock. I never spoke to him myself, but he is the one who made Leicester great. His philosophy is still followed and you don’t often see an owner so involved. With his vision he has formed a great club that I could be a part of for two years. I will carry that with me forever and consider myself lucky that with Slovan I now have a club where I feel good. I am really looking forward to making it a very good season.”