The Shteve McLaren'sh FC Twente thread [R]

No-one does well in that snake pit. Both Rutten and Engelaar on their way to PSV apparently. Which also hints at Afellay leaving in the summer.

 

Some very early new player news: we've just signed De Graafschap's Luuk de Jong on a three year contract which is good news for the club as Heerenveen also wanted to sign him, i.e. Twente is a more atrractive option for talented 18-year old than Heerenveen these days. He's Ajax's Siem de Jong's brother btw, a bit Kuyt like.

 

And as summer is nearing, thus starts the undoubtedly again endless stream of transfer rumours concerning Twente players. According to AD and several Italian papers, both Roma and Genoa want Arnautovic.

 

This is probably going to be the third summer in a row that we lose three key players (Elia, Arnautovic, Douglas probably) Which is why I almost don't want us to finish second. We're going to have start building a new team all over again.

Oh well.

 

The CL is targeted at making rich clubs richer and at widening the financial gap. If Twente do finish second, we won't be seeded again. Which means that we're up against a seeded club in the CL qualifiers, i.e. the likes of Arsenal. I don't see the point of it all. We did well in Europe this season and it's cost us money rather than gave us financial benefits! The Ajax point of view is different as they still have the illusion that they can perform in the CL. We're a lot more realistic over here.

The only plus side of it all to us is that Arnautovic, Elia and Douglas cost us nothing. We're likely to make a shedload out of selling them which will help us a great deal in paying off our loan to the municipality for the stadium expansion. See we don't have a sugardaddy liike AZ do. The biggest Twente sponsor is one of the supporters associations (De Vriendenkring) which is made up of local small and medium sized business owners. That's part of what makes Twente a great club in my view but it's also frustrating to see that a club like Twente, that does business decently and that is completely built on local support, is losing out to clubs that are built on a lot of hot air. To me that's the travesty of modern football but never mind, I sit here in the knowledge that we get a lot more enjoyment out of our clubs than the likes of ManU even, judging on how quiet their fans are even at home.

 

Read a page back, we've already signed him. I wouldn't call him a solid striker. He's scored two goals in eighteen games! At 18 he's a bit of a project. I've every reason to trust our scouts though, they can spot talent.

 

It's all about money AFCA. What with television and sponsorship revenues being limited in Dutch football, Ajax will never be able to increase its budget to the levels of the top sides in French and German football even, and the latter two aren't the real contenders in the CL as we all know, even while they have vastly more to spend than the Dutch. Things might change somewhat if UEFA introduce the 6+5 rule and the ban on under 18 transfers.

 

But Dutch clubs can at least ask a decent transfer fee for their homegrown players when they're 18 if there's a ban on under 18 transfers. I've said it before, that's the problem right now. Dutch clubs can't take the financial risk of giving under 18s a fullyfledged professional contract so they typically walk out the door for virtually nothing to a club that will and can take that financial risk.

 

He's in the top 10 of best players in the Dutch league right now according to the several footballer of the year standings, and categorised in the top five hottest eredivisie transfer targets by a leading Dutch footy mag. Ajax put in an offer of six million for him last christmas which Twente laughed away. Elia then got a contract extension with a minimum transfer fee clause of eight million; he's already indicated that he's likely to leave in the summer. These clubs are said to have a real interest in signing him: Ajax, HSV, Man City, and a Spanish club I can't remember the name of. HSV right now look most likely to snap him up. Are you telling me Spurs are also interested?

He's extremely quick similar to Castelen, but unlike Castelen he's also technically gifted. What we all like about him over here is that even though he's a creative player, he's got a great mentality and it's not beneath him to help out in defence, i.e. a real team player. Could improve his end product mind! We complain about his passing a lot. Overall it'd be great if we could keep him for a while longer but we've already resigned to the fact that that won't happen.

 

As for the Dutch national team: a lot of people believe he should be picked ahead of Babel who rarely starts for Liverpool. He just played a brilliant game for the Holland reserves who smashed Germany under 21 in Germany 4-0, Elia scored two goals in that game and set another one up.

 

Well like I said it looks likely that HSV will indeed get him! I just hope that if he does leave, he doesn't end up at Ajax to be honest.