Feyenoord lost the last league match of FC Twente with 1-2, but afterwards fans and players sang along happily with Frisian Feyenoord fan Kevin Bijlsma alias Stageline Kevin. He brought from the center circle a special finale song entitled ‘Tirana ohoho‘in the manner of’Volare‘ by the ear, he had come up with the lyrics in the shower.
The Conference League final on 25 May in Tirana against AS Roma relegated the interesting match between Feyenoord (number 3) and FC Twente (number 4) from a Rotterdam perspective to a rather lame goodbye match.
It was warm in the Kuip, three basic players were missing due to minor (Trauner and Nelson) and heavy (Malacia) hamstring complaints, Kökcü dropped out with a foot injury. The rest tried to stay whole. The season has already been a great success for Twente, the team could give everything and quickly scored 0-2, via Limnios and Smal. After the break, Dessers did something back.
Slot shook his head afterwards, but then happily took a picture with his own offspring and those of others. Yes, he was disappointed with the defeat, also because he had already seen that Roma duel sharply and fanatically in the last competition matches. ‘If we miss that sharpness and that fanaticism, they will hurt us.’ But yes, Feyenoord was already unreachable for Twente, the gap narrowed to three points.
So wave and sing along. Due to the limited number of final tickets, which were also made available by the UEFA two hours earlier than announced last week, the majority of season ticket holders are missing in the Air Albania Stadium (capacity: 22,500).
They will normally not see a large part of the team that crisscrossed Europe for so long and successfully in the Kuip. Feyenoord has to forge the heated iron; finally good money can be made from players who have played themselves in the eyes of wealthier European clubs.
Feyenoord’s transfer results have been so bad for decades that it rarely ends up in the rankings for Ajax and PSV, simply because it pays less high salaries and transfer fees. That has consequences. Feyenoord, for example, longed for the favors of Joey Veerman last winter break, but PSV ran off with the midfielder.
Feyenoord wants more financial strength, especially now that a new stadium turned out to be a mirage and investors are not getting in. The fastest way to cash is Champions League football (which is again missing due to third place) and/or making big transfers.
At Feyenoord, the sales record is the transfer of Dirk Kuijt in 2006(!) to Liverpool: 18 million euros. Since then, the transfer market has exploded, but only 81 million euros came in between 2010 and 2020. That is five times less than with Ajax, which collected 400 million, calculated VI† PSV, AZ and even Heerenveen are also doing better.
In ten years Feyenoord sold only four players for more than 10 million euros. PSV no fewer than twelve, four of which raised more than 20 million euros.
That is why the European performances come as called for Feyenoord. For example, Marcos Senesi’s contract runs until 2023, meaning he will be transfer-free in a year. He has to be sold next summer to earn anything. Senesi (25) didn’t even get off to a great start to the season, but has been in good form in recent months and wears the captain’s armband. Both Argentina and Italy included the Argentine defender, who also has an Italian passport, in their pre-selection. That adds up in value and cannot be separated from his status as a finalist.
There is also a lot of interest in the self-trained Orange international Tyrell Malacia (22 years, contract until 2024) and Turkish international Orkun Kökcü (21 years, 2025). Kökcü would already be finished with AS Roma. The transfer record must be broken by Luis Sinisterra, the quick, ball-skilled 22-year-old Colombian attacker (contract until 2024) has scored 23 times in all competitions this season and provided 14 assists.
Three players have also been hired from the current basic team, Guus Til, Reiss Nelson and Cyriel Dessers. The latter can be bought from KRC Genk for 4 million and given his goal drive, again against Twente, it would be strange not to lay down that sum.
In many positions, the rinse becomes paper thin if Feyenoord sell four players and one or two mercenaries no longer see. Already there is a problem if a defender is missing. Technical director Frank Arnesen has to prove himself: can he sell for tens of millions and then turn that money into even more money by getting good replacements?
Feyenoord players try to park those transfer problems. Dessers said about his future: ‘We will lift it beyond the final. In the dressing room is the realization that we can make history. The rest will come later.’