Former director of FC Groningen, Hans Nijland, compares the return of Arjen Robben with that of Johan Cruijff on the Dutch fields in 1981. Chris Woerts, sports marketer, warns against too high expectations for the attacker and also avoids comparisons with the return of Michael Jordan . Chicago Bulls basketball club made gold because everyone wanted to see the living legend back to work.

“This is of course absurd,” Woerts emphasized in conversation with Soccer International. “Comparing it to Jordan goes way too far. People were equally enthusiastic. Many extra tickets were sold. This is all well and good, but you should not overdo it. In the past, he was, among other things, director at Feyenoord. “At Feyenoord we also brought in big names like Roy Makaay and Giovanni from Bronckhorst from Bayern Munich and Barcelona in 2007”, says Woerts.

‘There were queues up to the Coolsingel to buy tickets. But it was short-term work. There were high salaries and in the end there was a lot of criticism when the results were not known. You have to keep looking at it soberly. According to Woerts, the stories that the Eredivisie has increased in value are not based on anything. “Not the whole world is waiting for Arjen Robben, but more importantly: the foreign TV rights of the Eredivisie have already been sold to IMG.”

Only two players in Eredivisie with better figures than Robben

Arjen Robben, if he is fit, is by far seen as the best player of FC Groningen. The SciSports figures also confirm this. An analysis.Read article

IMG paid an amount to the Eredivisie to be able to sell the rights internationally. “The Eredivisie cannot do it itself; insofar as there was already an opportunity with Robben to sell the rights for more money. Robben is primarily a local hype, “is the opinion of the sports marketer.” At Sparta, people really do not buy a ticket, because Robben participates in FC Groningen. It is of a different order than the return of Johan Cruijff at the time. ”

RTV Noord offers a basic place for Robben in the first match of FC Groningen with PSV. He took part in Danny Buijs’ group training and then practiced individually for some time. Robben started last Sunday in the exhibition match with Arminia Bielefeld (1-1) in the base and took the goal from Groningen.