From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
The month closes with Lee Young-Jun out in front — 7 goals in 5 games, and Sparta Rotterdam have the division's most feared finisher.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
Marked 8.23 across it, 8 goals and assists between them, and no serious argument from anybody else in the division. Sparta Rotterdam have had the whole benefit of a month somebody else will spend the summer trying to buy.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
Young player of the month: Maher Carrizo — 7.31
7.31 across the month and 3 goal contributions from a Ajax player everybody else in the division now has a file on. His price rose this month without anybody at his club lifting a finger.
Market1 Feb 2028
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Feb 2028
Twente come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Utrecht did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Feb 2028
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market1 Feb 2028
Terms done: Roy Steur is going
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Slaven Belupo waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Utrecht is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
Calvin Brackelmann leads the division for assists — 7.58
The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 4 of them made by a Twente player marked 7.58, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
8.30 on average across 5 matches for Twente. The chart that notices the players a goal tally never does, and this month it noticed him.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
4 in 5 for Heracles. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
4 goals in 5 appearances for PSV, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
Scoring charts1 Feb 2028
5 goals in 5 appearances for Twente leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
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From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
Esmir Bajraktarević is the division's player of the month — 8.13
A club's paper reports this as one of its own being honoured. On this page it is what it actually is: a verdict on everybody who played, and it went to a Go Ahead Eagles man on 8.13 with 5 goal contributions.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
Emre Ünüvar is the month's best young player — 7.07
The award the rest of the division reads as a transfer rumour. 7.07 over the month and 1 goal contributions, from a Excelsior player whose price has just gone up without anybody at his club doing anything.
Market1 Jan 2028
NEC say no — this time
The offer from Universidad de Chile for Gonzalo Crettaz was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Market1 Jan 2028
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Zwolle, and it is not being withdrawn.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
Thibo Baeten leads the division for assists — 7.64
The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 5 of them made by a Go Ahead Eagles player marked 7.64, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.
Market1 Jan 2028
Only the photograph left for Ryan Thomas
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Ryan Thomas will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Zwolle the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
Highest marks in the league belong to a Go Ahead Eagles man
Esmir Bajraktarević averaged 8.13 over 4 appearances. Nothing about that will trend, and anybody who watched all four games would tell you it was the most accurate thing on this page.
Market1 Jan 2028
Steven Bergwijn wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at AZ hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
2 goals in 4 appearances for Utrecht, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
4 appearances, 2 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.
Scoring charts1 Jan 2028
Noah Ohio is right behind him
3 goals in 3 appearances for Utrecht, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
Nacho Ferri tops the scoring charts
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 3 goals in 2 appearances for Feyenoord.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
Everybody in the division was measured and a Sparta Rotterdam man came out on top: 7.73 across the month and 3 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
The division's brightest kid this month plays for Feyenoord
Shaqueel van Persie was marked 7.64 and had a hand in 3 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.
Market1 Dec 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
Jasper Dahlhaus leads the division for assists — 7.73
The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 2 of them made by a Sparta Rotterdam player marked 7.73, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.
Market1 Dec 2027
Sam Kersten has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Heerenveen they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
Best marks in the division for Nacho Ferri — 8.29
8.29 on average across 2 matches for Feyenoord. The chart that notices the players a goal tally never does, and this month it noticed him.
Market1 Dec 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market1 Dec 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
1 in 3 for Sparta Rotterdam. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
2 goals in 3 appearances for NEC leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Dec 2027
2 goals in 3 appearances for Feyenoord leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 3 goals in 4 appearances for NAC Breda.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
M'Bala Nzola is the division's player of the month — 7.75
A club's paper reports this as one of its own being honoured. On this page it is what it actually is: a verdict on everybody who played, and it went to a NAC Breda man on 7.75 with 5 goal contributions.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
Paul Wanner is the month's best young player — 7.49
The award the rest of the division reads as a transfer rumour. 7.49 over the month and 1 goal contributions, from a Volendam player whose price has just gone up without anybody at his club doing anything.
Market1 Nov 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Feyenoord, and it is not being withdrawn.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
Viktor Tsygankov leads the division for assists — 7.94
The chart that decides who the scorers ought to be thanking. 3 of them made by a Ajax player marked 7.94, and not one will be in the montage at the end of the season.
Market1 Nov 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Excelsior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
Highest marks in the league belong to a Ajax man
Julian Brandt averaged 8.05 over 4 appearances. Nothing about that will trend, and anybody who watched all four games would tell you it was the most accurate thing on this page.
Market1 Nov 2027
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Market1 Nov 2027
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Twente heard it as anything else.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
A productive month at Twente — 3 goals from 3 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
2 in 2 for Utrecht. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
Scoring charts1 Nov 2027
2 goals in 4 appearances for Ajax, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
The month closes with M'Bala Nzola out in front — 4 goals in 3 games, and NAC Breda have the division's most feared finisher.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
M'Bala Nzola is the division's player of the month — 8.11
A club's paper reports this as one of its own being honoured. On this page it is what it actually is: a verdict on everybody who played, and it went to a NAC Breda man on 8.11 with 5 goal contributions.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
Young player of the month: Tim van der Leij — 7.68
7.68 across the month and 3 goal contributions from a Telstar player everybody else in the division now has a file on. His price rose this month without anybody at his club lifting a finger.
Market1 Oct 2027
SC Freiburg come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and Telstar did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market1 Oct 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
Nobody made more than Thibo Baeten this month
3 assists, 7.43, and a Go Ahead Eagles player who spent four weekends being the reason somebody else's name went in the paper. It is the least-rewarded skill in football and the easiest one to notice its absence.
Market1 Oct 2027
Dylan Mertens hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Go Ahead Eagles can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Oct 2027
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Excelsior they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
Best marks in the division for M'Bala Nzola — 8.11
8.11 on average across 3 matches for NAC Breda. The chart that notices the players a goal tally never does, and this month it noticed him.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
3 appearances, 2 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
3 in 3 for Go Ahead Eagles. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
Scoring charts1 Oct 2027
3 goals in 3 appearances for Telstar, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
João Félix tops the scoring charts
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 6 goals in 3 appearances for Benfica.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
Player of the month: João Félix — 8.47
Everybody in the division was measured and a Benfica man came out on top: 8.47 across the month and 8 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.
Market1 Sep 2027
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Heerenveen people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
Young player of the month: Givairo Read — 7.43
7.43 across the month and 0 goal contributions from a Feyenoord player everybody else in the division now has a file on. His price rose this month without anybody at his club lifting a finger.
Market1 Sep 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” ADO Den Haag had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market1 Sep 2027
Ángel Alarcón hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Utrecht can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Sep 2027
AZ say no — this time
The offer from Fortuna Sittard for Oussama Targhalline was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
The division’s top provider is João Félix — 8.47
2 assists across the month from a Benfica player marked 8.47. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
3 goals in 3 appearances for Heracles leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
4 goals in 3 appearances for Twente leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
2 goals in 3 appearances for Ajax leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Sep 2027
3 appearances, 2 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Aug 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Market1 Aug 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Aug 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market1 Jul 2027
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” Hannover 96 had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
Market1 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
Market1 Jul 2027
AZ say no — this time
The offer from Feyenoord for Kees Smit was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 2 goals in 1 appearances for Feyenoord.
Market1 Jun 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Heracles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
1 assists, 8.31, and a Excelsior player who spent four weekends being the reason somebody else's name went in the paper. It is the least-rewarded skill in football and the easiest one to notice its absence.
Market1 Jun 2027
Steven Bergwijn wants to know where this is going
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at AZ hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Market1 Jun 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. José De Almeida Reis will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Excelsior the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
1 in 1 for AZ. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
1 goals in 1 appearances for Excelsior leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
Kees Smit keeps the pressure on
1 goals in 1 appearances for AZ leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
1 goals in 1 appearances for Excelsior, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
Steven Bergwijn keeps making them — 1 this month
8.26 for a AZ player whose contribution is measured entirely in other people's celebrations. The providers' chart is the one nobody frames and everybody in a dressing room reads.
Scoring charts1 Jun 2027
Further down the providers' column, where the PSV man sits on 8.12 and a month of passes that were harder than the finishes they became.
Market1 Jun 2027
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Youssef El Kachati has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at NEC.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 May 2027
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 5 goals in 4 appearances for NAC Breda.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
Player of the month: Simon Adingra — 8.05
Everybody in the division was measured and a Ajax man came out on top: 8.05 across the month and 5 goal contributions. There is no serious case for anybody else.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
Kees Smit is the month's best young player — 7.84
The award the rest of the division reads as a transfer rumour. 7.84 over the month and 2 goal contributions, from a AZ player whose price has just gone up without anybody at his club doing anything.
Market1 May 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Heracles, and it is not being withdrawn.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
The division’s top provider is Filip Bundgaard — 8.02
5 assists across the month from a NAC Breda player marked 8.02. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.
Market1 May 2027
Only the photograph left for Mees de Wit
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Mees de Wit will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around AZ the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
Highest marks in the league belong to a NAC Breda man
Charles Andreas Brym averaged 8.11 over 4 appearances. Nothing about that will trend, and anybody who watched all four games would tell you it was the most accurate thing on this page.
Market1 May 2027
“I have ambitions, and I would like the club to share them.” Nobody has asked to leave and nobody has been shown the door — but a player chooses that sentence carefully, and a boardroom hears it exactly as it was meant.
Market1 May 2027
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Utrecht can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
A productive month at Go Ahead Eagles — 3 goals from 4 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
3 goals in 4 appearances for Ajax, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
Scoring charts1 May 2027
3 in 4 for Ajax. Nobody outside his own ground is talking about him, which tends to be true of everybody on this list except the man at the top of it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 3 goals in 3 appearances for Feyenoord.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
Marked 7.99 across it, 4 goals and assists between them, and no serious argument from anybody else in the division. Feyenoord have had the whole benefit of a month somebody else will spend the summer trying to buy.
Market1 Apr 2027
“It was not right for me. I am not going to explain why to anybody except the people I owe an explanation to.” A deal agreed between two clubs, and a player who declined to be part of it.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
Paul Wanner is the month's best young player — 7.21
The award the rest of the division reads as a transfer rumour. 7.21 over the month and 1 goal contributions, from a PSV player whose price has just gone up without anybody at his club doing anything.
Market1 Apr 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at Twente, and it is not being withdrawn.
Market1 Apr 2027
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and FC Lahti waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Go Ahead Eagles is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
The division’s top provider is Shunsuke Mito — 7.92
2 assists across the month from a Sparta Rotterdam player marked 7.92. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.
Market1 Apr 2027
The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
Vangelis Pavlidis is the division's best-marked player — 7.99
The chart that catches everybody a goal tally never will: the centre-half who was immense for four weekends, the holding midfielder nobody outside his own ground has heard of. 7.99 across 3 matches for Feyenoord.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
3 appearances, 2 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
A productive month at Sparta Rotterdam — 2 goals from 3 appearances, and a place near the top of the charts.
Scoring charts1 Apr 2027
2 goals in 3 appearances for Go Ahead Eagles leave him among the month's leading marksmen.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
Nobody in the division bettered it last month: 4 goals in 4 appearances for Zwolle.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
The month belonged to Kees Smit
Marked 7.77 across it, 3 goals and assists between them, and no serious argument from anybody else in the division. AZ have had the whole benefit of a month somebody else will spend the summer trying to buy.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
The division's brightest kid this month plays for AZ
Kees Smit was marked 7.77 and had a hand in 3 goals. Every recruitment department in the country now has a file open, and the club that has him knows exactly what that means.
Market1 Mar 2027
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Volendam can pretend not to have heard.
Market1 Mar 2027
The Lech deal is off
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Kayne van Oevelen reports back to Volendam with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Market1 Mar 2027
The offer from Hammarby for Marcus Linday was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
The division’s top provider is Thijs Oosting — 7.78
6 assists across the month from a Zwolle player marked 7.78. Somebody has to open the door before anybody walks through it, and nobody in the league opened more.
Market1 Mar 2027
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Thom van Bergen will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Groningen the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
Highest marks in the league belong to a Zwolle man
Thijs Oosting averaged 7.78 over 4 appearances. Nothing about that will trend, and anybody who watched all four games would tell you it was the most accurate thing on this page.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
2 goals in 4 appearances for Ajax, and a chart that would look very different if two of them had gone in off the post instead of past it.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
4 appearances, 3 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.
Scoring charts1 Mar 2027
4 appearances, 2 goals, and a place among the division's leading scorers for the month. Strikers measure a season in exactly these lines.