Contract at Excelsior
© Imago
In 2017, Kik Pierie stood together with names like Erling Haaland (25), Vinicius Junior (25) or Jadon Sancho (25) on the “Guardian” list of the greatest talents worldwide, eight years later, the Dutch central defender at 25 years of age. On Friday, the former junior international, who had dissolved his contract with the Eredivisie returnee Excelsior Rotterdam a few days earlier, confirmed in the “ESPN” program “De voetbalkantine“His decision to end the professional career.
Pierie does not consider himself a failed. “Not at all,” he said. “But to be honest, I wouldn’t have thought at Ajax at the time that I would stop football eight years later because there are things that I am currently more fun, and the football life that I have to lead now does not suit me. Some people may consider me crazy, but it also gives me a feeling of freedom.” The decision was not difficult for him, “I look back on the past ten years with great satisfaction.”
Shortly after his 17th birthday, Pierie made his debut for youth club SC Heerenveen in the Eredivisie and could no longer be pushed out of the starting eleven. Two years later, the move to Ajax followed for 5 million euros, where the defender was surprisingly no chance and had to go in the second -class reserve. This was followed by borrowing to Twente Enschede and Excelsior, after four years Ajax ended the misunderstanding and let him go to the Rotterdamers free of charge. Smaller and major injuries no longer let the former top talent come out away from Ajax, last season Pierie played 16 games (two goals) in the 2nd league.
Pierie immediately wanted to refute that he could no longer keep up physically. “It was not because I was not fit, I have always trained with the team in the past three weeks. At some point during the preparation, I noticed that I could no longer fit into the concept with Excelsior. There were hardly any perspectives for me. The injuries and rehabilitation measures would of course also have burdened him.
“Last year I saw more dumbbells than soccer fields. At some point you are so fed up that you could almost throw up. You are strong and unimpressed on the outside, but inside you gnawed at one,” said Pierie openly. “This loses the joy of the game a little. I found it not worth it to get through when you look at the alternatives.” The former hype about his person who surprised him at the time has long since subsided.
“It was strange to hear that at the time,” Pierie looked back at the nomination for the “Guardian” list and joked with a view to the selection: “The guy was probably sick that day.” It was of course nice to hear that, “but I still went to school and was only 16. I didn’t really know what the Guardian was. In retrospect, you think: Wow, big names. But at that time I was probably one of the few who played in a first team.”
Ex-Ajax talent Pierie remains football
Now Pierie continues away from the square. “I have to get used to it first,” he admitted. Pierie is preserved for football. “I help players to get their finances under control,” he said. With his newly founded company, he enters a collaboration with Excelsior. “We teach you how moody the world of football is and how investments and finances can influence it.”
A return on the pitch is not completely excluded, but Pierie can really imagine a comeback but at least at the moment. “I don’t feel the urge to actively search for a new club. I don’t completely close the door, but I don’t keep looking around the corner to see what is hidden behind this door,” he said.
