Feyenoord may regret doing a quick deal with Brighton and Hove Albion for midfielder Mats Wieffer, as there was the prospect of a bidding war for him.
That’s according to journalist Mike Verweij, who has questioned the need for a quick deal while other bigger Premier League sides may have been interested.
Brighton are closing in on a deal for Wieffer, with it reported throughout this week that they had pushed ahead to get him from Feyenoord this summer.
They quickly agreed personal terms with the player over a move before striking a formal agreement with the Dutch side yesterday, allowing the player to travel to Brighton for a medical.
A deal has been done quickly for the highly rated midfielder, who was the subject of interest from Atletico Madrid in January and even a late effort from Liverpool, where former manager Arne Slot is now in charge.
And Verweij can’t see the logic in that from Feyenoord’s point of view, believing there was the possibility of ramping up the player’s price this summer.
“Didn’t Wieffer want to go there, to his old trainer Slot? The advantage that Ajax had with Lisandro Martínez was that both Arsenal and Manchester United signed up for him.
“Then the price shot up to sixty million euros. That is generally not amount paid for Feyenoorders, because that is ‘the Ajax bonus’.
“If two Premier League clubs start bidding against each other, you only have to sit back and hold up your hand as a Dutch club. I am surprised that Feyenoord did not participate in that.”
Fellow journalist Valentijn Driessen, meanwhile, believes the decision may not have been Feyenoord’s to make, but rather pushed by Wieffer instead.
The midfielder appears keen to move on and take the next step in his career and Brighton has been a good place for players of that ilk in recent years, developing a long list of players who have moved on to bigger clubs after a few years.
And the Dutchman believes that may have swayed the player’s thinking and part of a considered, somewhat patient, plan for his future.
“It must have been that boy too, of course,” he added.
“That he would still like to go to Brighton and perhaps sees that as an intermediate step for a later transfer to Liverpool. Just like Georginio Wijnaldum and Virgil van Dijk have done. Perhaps he does not yet feel good enough for that top in England.”
