Roger Schmidt is happy with the reaction of Mohamed Ihattaren in the past training week at PSV. The attacking midfielder was recently dismissed from training because the PSV coach was rather annoyed by his attitude. As a penalty Ihattaren was put on the bench against FC Groningen (1-3). Schmidt’s anger towards the only eighteen-year-old playmaker has now disappeared.

“During the match (against FC Groningen, ed.) he was already very motivated and positive in his attitude as substitute”, Schmidt is quoted Friday afternoon at the press conference in the run up to the match with FC Emmen by among others Football International. “That was important to me and during practice this week he did very well. A good attitude and positive. We talked about it.” Schmidt also reports that Erick Gutiérrez, who operated on the ankle, has been out of circulation for about three months. Against FC Emmen, Armando Obispo is also missing. Furthermore, there are no injuries at PSV.

Schmidt also commented on Eran Zahavi, the intended successor to Sam Lammers in the rush hour position at PSV. “There are a lot of rumours and I can’t say anything about all the rumours”, the German in Dutch service emphasizes. “But I can say that Zahavi is a good player, I know him from China (where Schmidt was trainer of Beijing Guoan, ed.). There are many foreign strikers there, because for the Chinese it was not so easy to score. Zahavi was one of the best foreigners in China. I think he is very good. It’s hard to say if a transfer is possible, I’m not a hundred percent sure. He still has a contract in China (until the end of December, ed.) and we are going to see, doing this kind of transfer is not easy”.

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Zahavi came on behalf of Guangzou R&F to 103 goals in 117 games. Last year he crowned himself with 29 goals to top scorer of the Chinese Super League. However, the nice statistics do not tell Schmidt everything. “‘It is difficult to compare leagues. In China there is the specific situation with a mix of very good foreigners and six Chinese players per team. That’s the challenge there, to let that go together. And that’s very different from what happens in the Netherlands. That’s why it’s difficult to compare leagues, but if you can score in China, which is the most common of all foreign strikers, then you have to succeed in the Netherlands as well,” says the PSV trainer.

Zahavi has already said goodbye to his current employer. “Today I left Guangzhou R&F, the club I played for the past four years,” the attacker writes on Instagram. “I want to thank everyone: the players, the technical staff and the chairman. Everyone I knew has helped me fantastically in the last four years. Thank you China, thank you for everything. It really was a privilege to be here. Thank you also for the wonderful experiences for my family and thank you for the great appreciation I have received all these years. I’m sure we’ll meet again later. I wish my team good luck without me and thanks again for everything. You are in my heart forever.” Zahavi normally leaves for the Netherlands this Friday. At PSV the 33-year-old striker can sign a two-year contract.

Regardless of the arrival of Zahavi, PSV is not yet ready on the transfer market. The priority is on reinforcements for the defence “I only have one leftback (Philipp Max, ed.) and one rightback (Denzel Dumfries, ed.) in the squad now. Those are good players, but key players can also get injured. We try to use the last weeks of the transfer period to make a complete selection. Of course we’re also looking for players to make the basic self stronger right away, but we’re also looking at players with a lot of potential who give us more options”, Schmidt concludes.