Leeds United’s Pascal Struijk has represented the Netherlands at U17 level in the past, while Newcastle United’s Sven Botman has been a part of their U21 squad.
Struijk’s displays for the Whites saw him make it to Louis van Gaal’s provisional squad for September’s international break. He failed to make it to the final list.
Botman, on the other hand, dropped out of the Netherlands U21 squad last month to focus on his football at Newcastle.
On Thursday, Voetbal Primeur stated the Leeds and Newcastle players could miss out on making it to the Netherlands provisional squad for the 2022 World Cup.
Apart from Struijk and Botman, Van Gaal has also included Virgil van Dijk, Nathan Aké, Matthijs de Ligt, Jurriën Timber and Stefan de Vrij for the centre-back position. It needs to be seen whether the Leeds and Newcastle defenders will make it to the final list.
“It’s a long list and to be honest, that’s not my style. But it is known that the players we choose for the final roster next month should already be on this preliminary list. Because no one can see into the future, you have to be prepared for possible setbacks, such as injuries,” Van Gaal said.
