Previously, foreign top clubs or subtoppers blindly came to Amsterdam for players. If it came from Ajax, or trained by the club, a purchase was always hit. Ajax no longer offers that guarantee, but AZ does. Perhaps not yet at the level of Top Champions League, although Tijjani Reijnders has now made a sensational debut for Manchester City in the Premier League.
Impressive row of AZ transfers
If you list some names after Reijnders, it is very impressive which players played at AZ and then ended up at very nice and large clubs. Just check: Wout Weghorst at Manchester United, Guus Til at PSV. Teun Koopmeiners at Juventus, Calvin Stengs near Feyenoord, Vangelis Pavlidis at Benfica, Sam Beukema at Napoli, Myron Boadu at AS Monaco, Owen Wijndal at Ajax, Milan Kerkez at Liverpool, Ruben van Bommel at PSV Villa and Alku at Alku at Bayer Leverkuen, Birku at Bayer, Jahanbakhsh at Brighton & Hove Albion. And then Como just puts down fifteen million euros for Jayden Addai, who still had to break through, and laughs Wolverhampton Wanderers from the Premier League laughing twelve million euros for a mediocre Norwegian left back as David Møller Wolfe.
Maarten Martens mentions Mexx Meerdink and Troy Parrott ‘Excellent Solution’ in the run -up to Levski playing together
Very clever. Just as special is that the current AZ team is not only, but also houses some large future transfer bargets. Players like Troy Parrott, Kees Smit, Sven Mijnans and Wouter Goes help AZ sporty and will eventually yield a lot of money. It is the old Ajax philosophy where she is sung in Amsterdam and put into practice by AZ.
With 25 million euros at the door
With Parrott it can sometimes go much faster than expected. With the competition from Mexx Meerdink in his neck, he experiences a great opening of the season. With ten goals in seven official matches in the Eredivisie and Conference League and an Irish passport, he did not escape clubs in the Premier League. But one English club has to panic in the coming week and he is coming in Alkmaar at technical director Max Huiberts with 25 million euros. With Meerdink behind his hand, Parrott can then just leave after more than a season.
Troy Parrott and Mexx Meerdink?
If this scenario does not occur, it will feed the discussion that trainer Maarten Martens might have to choose a Parrott and Meerdink in a 4-4-2 formation. Although the successful AZ played in the mid-eighties of the last century, the current game system is 4-3-3. It would be unwise to AZ for one player, for Meerdink, who still has to prove himself as a basic force, to throw your entire philosophy overboard. It swears with the view of how AZ successfully trains youth players. In addition, AZ would slaughter the chicken with the golden eggs, as witnessed by the aforementioned list of AZ players under contract with large European clubs in top competitions.
Sébastien Haller (31) arrives roughly at FC Utrecht: “He has been the most important man”
Question marks with arrival Sébastien Haller
FC Utrecht is not nearly as far as AZ and much more dependent on purchases and reinforcements from outside. It is great that Sébastien Haller has settled again in the rush at FC Utrecht. But whether it will be a success … Last season he arrived in January and the parties did not enjoy each other much. Haller is now half a year later after he made his return in January 2023 after a malignant tumor had previously been found with him. Such a thing of course cuts in. If he is back at the level of before that difficult period or if he returns to that level, Haller will be of great added value for FC Utrecht. He is a good header, can function well as a point of contact and scores easily.
Haller does not score 25 goals for FC Utrecht
With its qualities, Haller can help the team of Ron Jans and the Club FC Utrecht as a whole to grow to the level where the club wants to go. If this does not work, then his arrival, just like in the past six months, could be disappointing. Certainly because they still have the successful Haller of yesteryear in Utrecht. Only everyone has to realize that he is not going to score 25 goals. That was possible at Ajax at the time, which far above everyone in the Eredivisie, but not at this FC Utrecht.