Arne Slot acknowledges that Feyenoord was busy with Micky van de Ven in the final phase of the last transfer window. The twenty-year-old center defender eventually chose to exchange FC Volendam for VfL Wolfsburg. Slot tells in conversation with Feyenoord TV that Feyenoord wanted to anticipate a possible transfer from Tyrell Malacia or Marcos Senesi by bringing in Van de Ven.
“We are always working to make Feyenoord more future-proof. Tyrell Malacia and Marcos Senesi could make a transfer within the next two years. It is then nice to have a player who could play in both positions. I would have liked to have added Van de Ven to our selection, also for the short term”, says Slot. Despite Van de Ven missing out – for whom VfL Wolfsburg paid 3.5 million euros and a resale percentage – Slot is satisfied with Feyenoord’s transfer summer.
“We have a certain degree of difficulty: Feyenoord can only act when the transfer money has been received and then has to work with small transfer fees. Sometimes that is looking for a needle in a haystack, but I think we have succeeded in bringing the team back to a good level,” says the Feyenoord trainer. Leroy Fer was one of the players who left the Rotterdam team behind. After his departure to Alanyaspor, Jens Toornstra is the new captain of Feyenoord, followed in the pecking order by Justin Bijlow and Marcos Senesi.
“You look at the hierarchy in a group and at which player is ready for his development. I think it is quite logical that Jens now takes this position”, explains Slot. Feyenoord will not play in the coming Eredivisie weekend, because the first group match in the Conference League against Maccabi Haifa in Israel is scheduled for Tuesday. The home game against Heracles Almelo, which should have been played on Sunday, has therefore been moved to December 1.
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