Ahead of the Hero Indian Super League International Draft in Mumbai on Thursday, The Hindu has learnt that Feyenoord’s cooperation with Delhi Dynamos has extended to guiding the franchise on draft picks. It must be remembered that the Dutch club has already helped the ISL side to recruit its head coach Harm van Veldhoven and strikers like Mads Junker and Morten Skoubo.
In fact, a source close to the Rotterdam-based club revealed that the team offered the Dynamos a few ex-Feyenoord players but the franchise failed to attract them due to a paucity of funds.
“Feyenoord had advised the Dynamos to sign some former players like Kaj Ramsteijn, Serginho Greene, Romeo Castelen and Darley, but they are not coming because of financial reasons,” the source said. Since Feyenoord hasn’t invested in the franchise and only stands to gain financially from its agreement with the Dynamos, the Dutch club could not assist in the removal of financial obstacles.
Tallest goal-keeperYet, the Dynamos have succeeded in attracting some players from the Low Countries. After the acquisitions of Junker, Skoubo and Wim Raymaekers, the franchise announced the signing of goalkeeper Kristof van Hout. Touted as the ‘world’s tallest footballer’ at six feet and ten inches, the Belgian was on the books of Racing Genk last season.
Upon the confirmation of the signing, manager van Veldhoven said that the two-time Belgian Cup winner van Hout will display “alacrity and judgement” under the Dynamos’ goalpost. “His height is a big advantage, especially in games that go down to penalty shootouts,” added the Belgian coach.
The aforementioned signings could be joined by Czech defender Pavel Cmovs and Swedish midfielder Bojan Djordjic. Both players feature in the 49-player strong international draft. According to the source, Feyenoord has recommended Dynamos to choose Cmovs and Djordjic.
The source also revealed that the head of international relations at the Rotterdam club, Gido Vader, has been completely involved in the process of recruiting players for the Delhi franchise.
It’s likely that the Delhi franchise will limit its activities at the draft to Cmovs and Djordjic as Hans Mulder and another centre-back seem set to join the Dynamos.
Mulder is currently a free agent after being released by NEC Nijmegen at the end of last season. The midfielder had previously represented RKC Waalwijk and Willem II in the Dutch Eredivisie but a serious injury affected his career.
The other prospective signing for the Dynamos is an unnamed centre-back who plied his trade with the under-19 Feyenoord side last year.
Some other academy graduates from the club were interested in coming to India too but were later signed up for the reserve sides of a few Eredivisie clubs.
