Vitesse had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at AZ, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Almere City waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Vitesse is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“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 The request is on a desk at Vitesse, and it is not being withdrawn.
Kevin Mac Allister and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. Vitesse will quote 17 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The new man at Vitesse has worked with Kayne van Oevelen before and it went well. He arrives with a view of the player already formed, which is worth more than any pre-season.
Add another name to the list: Fortuna Sittard have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Nordin Bakker. The answer from Vitesse has not changed — yet.
Kevin Mac Allister and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Squad16 Apr 2029
Azor Matusiwa falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
Nobody at Vitesse is suggesting he is out of form. The manager simply wanted somebody with a different set of qualities for ninety specific minutes, and there is nothing a player can train to fix that.
The 87th minute, half the ground already edging towards the exits, and Sven Mijnans decided nobody was going anywhere. Groningen had no time left to answer.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Vitesse is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Vitesse can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Vitesse are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Azor Matusiwa and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
At 23 he is being sung about by people twice his age, which is an affection a signing has to earn over years and a local kid gets for turning up. It is also the hardest thing in football to live up to.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Sven Mijnans. 1‑0 against Groningen, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jeremiah Esajas was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. PSV have done the hard part with AZ, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
“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 PSV, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Rens Boon has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Juan Miranda and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sami Bouhoudane is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
The chase for Michael Bresser ended with $660.0K changing hands and PSV out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
The phone has started ringing about Connor van den Berg again, and this time the name on the line is Telstar. Vitesse are listening politely and promising nothing.
$600.0K on the table at Utrecht. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Kevin Mac Allister and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
Kay Otakan has left for Fortuna Sittard in a $260.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Words at Vitesse training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Levent Mercan is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Vitesse have paid $16.6M for Jorg Schreuders, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
The fee is $7.4M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Twente drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Vitesse and PSV have settled on $660.0K. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
Vitesse have gone to FC Eindhoven with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Utrecht have kept their man, and Vitesse go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Vitesse hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $3.1M — a club that wants Thijs Muller enough to be asked twice.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Vitesse know it.
Position 19 and 36 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Jong PSV is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Nick Olij was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Everyone has stopped pretending: Go Ahead Eagles will make the call about Noah Fernandez this week. Jong PSV have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Jordy Bawuah falls out with a teammate over standards
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The phone has started ringing about Michael Bresser again, and this time the name on the line is De Graafschap. Jong PSV are listening politely and promising nothing.
The young player of the month award goes to a 19-year-old at Jong PSV who has looked like the finished article for four weekends running. The next four are the ones that decide whether he is.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Fabian Merién has come out of it lower. He will be told it is temporary, and the players who have heard that before will avoid his eye.
In brief
The dugoutNick Olij asks for a word with the manager
The offer went to AZ this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
The clubs have shaken hands with NEC; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
“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 PSV, and it is not being withdrawn.
PSV have gone to AZ with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer from Utrecht for Ruben van Bommel 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $15.4M — a club that wants Ayoub Oufkir enough to be asked twice.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Michael Bresser has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.