The NEC Chronicle
The dugout16 Aug 2027
Darko Nejašmić says NEC went back on their word
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
No thanks: Owen Wijndal rejects the move
NEC had done everything except persuade the man himself. He stays at Ajax, and the manager goes back to the drawing board with the money still in the bank.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A falling-out at NEC
Tjaronn Chery and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Boardroom16 Aug 2027
Graduation day at NEC
5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Noé Lebreton signs a new deal
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Noé Lebreton commits to NEC for another 4 years.
Squad16 Aug 2027
A row about effort at NEC
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philippe Sandler was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2027
NEC rebuffed over Nicolás de la Cruz
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Flamengo have kept their man, and NEC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The dugout16 Aug 2027
No hiding place for Nikolas Polster
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nikolas Polster, and the manager let it.
Market16 Aug 2027
Wout Strootman steps up from the NEC academy
There is no fee, no unveiling and no agent on the steps. Wout Strootman has been at this club since he was a boy and is now, formally, one of the first-team squad — which for a local readership beats any signing of any size.
In brief
- Market NEC promote Wout Van Dijk from within
- Market One of our own: Justin De Ligt joins the NEC first team
- Market Ryan Frimpong steps up from the NEC academy