Thomas van den Belt is looking forward to the future collaboration with Arne Slot. Feyenoord reached an agreement with PEC Zwolle at the end of last month about the transfer of the 21-year-old midfielder from next season. Van den Belt reportedly comes over for 850,000 euros, the amount of a clause in his contract.
The team from Rotterdam did everything they could to take over Van den Belt last winter, but then did not reach an agreement with his club. The midfielder has now signed a contract in De Kuip until mid-2027. Van den Belt is making a big impression at PEC this season. In thirty league matches, he already scored thirteen goals and eight assists. “I definitely consider myself a controlling midfielder, but I can also play well box-to-box and cover distances,” Van den Belt says to The Telegraph. “Sometimes it is also an advantage if you come from a little further away. Then you are sometimes overlooked.”
Feyenoord coach Slot is a good friend of his father, Gerard van den Belt, the financial director of SC Cambuur. PEC’s eye-catcher doesn’t think it’s a surprise to work with Slot in that regard. “I have worked with Arne before,” says Van den Belt. “He was my trainer in the Under 14 of PEC Zwolle. I thought he was already very strong then, but in the meantime he has become an even better trainer. I don’t know what will happen with all the interest in him, but it would be nice if I could start working with him next season. I think he can make me a better player.”
Van den Belt believes that, just like Mats Wieffer, who went from Excelsior to Feyenoord last summer, he can succeed in the top of the Eredivisie. “Wieffer is of course a completely different player and I don’t want to compare myself to him, but he does show that the step from the Kitchen Champion Division to the base of Feyenoord is possible. That also gives me a certain perspective,” says Van den Belt.