Consistent reports
©IMAGO
VfB Stuttgart is apparently working intensively with Tim van der Leij. The 20-year-old attacker from RKC Waalwijk caught the eye with strong performances last season. According to information from “Bild”, negotiations are underway with the Swabians and a high six-figure sum is being discussed as a transfer fee. “Sky” and the Dutch media had previously reported on the Bundesliga club’s interest as well as concrete discussions and even estimated the transfer fee was in the region of millions.
| rumor | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | T. van der Leij |
 | ||||||||
Center forward | ||||||||||
| ||||||||||
Van der Leij was one of the most striking young strikers in the Netherlands last season. The 1.93 meter tall attacker scored 17 goals across all competitions for RKC Waalwijk. In the second Dutch league he scored 13 goals this season and played a key role in the relegated city from the city of around 50,000 inhabitants ending up in sixth place. However, the direct return to the Eredivisie was not achieved in the playoffs.
According to the latest transfer market update, the market value of the sought-after youngster is estimated at 400,000 euros. In addition to VfB, Eredivisie relegated NAC Breda and the three Belgian first division clubs KAA Gent, Oud-Heverlee Leuven and KVC Westerlo were also recently considered interested.
In his home country, van der Leij is often compared to the Norwegian top striker Erling Haaland because of his physique, his pace, his finishing skills and his long blonde hair. According to the latest report, VfB coach Sebastian Hoeneß sees great potential and an interesting profile in the attacker, who also has certain parallels to ex-Stuttgart Nick Woltemade in his playing style. The latter left the Swabians for Newcastle United in the summer of 2025 for a club record fee of 75 million euros.
Van der Leij’s contract in Waalwijk runs until 2028. While “Bild” suspects the possible transfer fee for the youngster to be slightly higher, “Sky” had given the price range of around 1 million euros plus bonus payments. The offensive force should take on the status of a promising player at VfB and be brought up to the Bundesliga level via the second team.
He could follow a similar path in Stuttgart as compatriot Ramon Hendriks – he was signed from Rotterdam in the summer of 2024 for one million euros and was actually initially intended for the second team. However, the defender worked his way into the professional team within a very short time and is now valued at 25 million euros and is considered to be sought after by clubs such as Borussia Dortmund and Nottingham Forest.
