After the duel with NEC, Slot explained why an extra midfielder would be very welcome. “We let a lot of players leave in the summer and only brought back a limited number of players. We have now let more players leave than we have brought back, so I think it is desirable to get another player.
That has to be a player that we think we can really use. We have only one player who can do that defensively in midfield and that is Fredrik Aursnes. As an attacking midfielder, Jens Toornstra has also filled that position for a long time. But I do think that we have played even better since the arrival of Fredrik. Knowing that you will have to deal with suspensions, injuries and corona at the end of the year, it would be good to have an extra option. That is also the reason why we ended up with Joey Veerman and Riechedly Bazoer.” Veerman went to PSV and Slot no longer counts on Bazoer. “I think that’s gone, although you should never say never in Rotterdam. An investor may come out of nowhere, but I honestly don’t expect that to happen.”
Feyenoord already strengthened this window with Cole Bassett and Patrik Walemark. The Swedish attacker was on the bench against NEC, but did not make his debut yet. That had to do with Lutsharel Geertruida’s injury, which meant that a substitution opportunity was lost, Slot explained. The Feyenoord trainer did let defender Denzel Hall (20) make his debut. „I considered to have Denzel make his debut after Lutsharel had retired, but it was then 2-1 and it seemed wiser to do that with Jens Toornstra, but in the end I wanted Denzel to make his debut. ”