An important wish of Dick Lukkien is coming true. The FC Groningen coach is reunited with his old crush Rui Mendes. The attacker comes over from FC Emmen.
The transfer of Rui Mendes has been in the air for a while. Last week, this newspaper reported that the German-Portuguese attacker was one of FC Groningen’s main targets for this transfer period and that the club would turn to neighbor FC Emmen.
FC Groningen director Wouter Gudde also did this last summer, but both clubs were unable to reach an agreement financially. This time. The wing attacker, who has recently recovered from an injury, who will be presented on Wednesday if the medical tests reveal no obstacles, signs a contract for 3.5 seasons with FC Groningen.
FC Emmen receives a transfer fee of 250,000 euros. That could be 50,000 euros more if FC Groningen is promoted back to the Premier League this season. The Drenthes are also entitled to a resale percentage of 10 percent if Mendes is sold at a profit in the long term.
Worth gold
Lukkien and Mendes go back three years, when the Portuguese-born striker joined from Hoffenheim’s reserves. For the Veendammer coach, Mendes turned out to be worth gold. In the 2021-2022 promotion season, the winger scored fifteen goals and seven assists at FC Emmen. Last year, Mendes was seriously injured after a rough charge from PSV player Mauro Junior. The Portuguese German has only recently become pain-free. He prefers to play on the right flank, but can also play as a left winger.
Lukkien recently indicated that the arrival of new blood within his selection does not necessarily mean that he will overhaul the established constellation, which is now successfully making its way in the first division. “There is very little reason to change the team at the moment. The competition is increasing due to the arrival of new players, but that is part of it,” said the coach.
In any case, FC Groningen will become stronger in terms of width due to the arrival of Mendes, although there were already alternatives available for the flanks of the current number six of the first division, with Kian Slor and Noam Emeran, for example. “If we have to change, the alternatives are often young, open-minded, but not always ready-made,” says Lukkien.