The NEC Chronicle
Squad31 Aug 2026
Tjaronn Chery breaks a bone — 135 days out
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 135 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Match29 Aug 2026
Chastening afternoon for NEC
A 0‑4 beating by Ajax was the sort of result that empties a stadium long before the final whistle.
Squad31 Aug 2026
8 saves: Jasper Cillessen was the team
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 8 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
Market31 Aug 2026
Willem II come back empty-handed
The bid was some way short and NEC did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Market31 Aug 2026
NEC sell Thomas Ouwejan for $5.2M
Thomas Ouwejan has left for Utrecht in a $5.2M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market31 Aug 2026
NEC sell Deveron Fonville for $1.6M
Deveron Fonville has left for AZ in a $1.6M deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.
Market31 Aug 2026
Freek Entius moves on
Willem II pay $95.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Words exchanged at NEC
Bryan Linssen 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.
Transfer targets31 Aug 2026
NEC rebuffed over Oumar Diouf
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Sint-Truiden have kept their man, and NEC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
In brief
- Boardroom Inquest at NEC
- The dugout Kenneth Lang faces the questions
- Squad Words at NEC training over how hard people work