Just last week, there was a bit of a surprise when Belgian journalist Sacha Tavolieri announced that Club Brugge were interested in signing Leeds United’s Pascal Struijk in January.
The interest itself wasn’t new, since the Jupiler Pro League side were already keen on him in the summer, but Daniel Farke put an end to that rather quickly.
He stayed put at Leeds, at least for the time being, but his performances in the Championship have led to more stories appearing, and Voetbal Nieuws cover the whole situation on Monday.
The website look at what has been said since Tavolieri reveals the news, covering the replies from England, and then seem to add their own information at the bottom.
They state that Club Brugge will focus on bringing in ‘added value players’ into their squad over the next few weeks and months, which is a category the Leeds centre-back ‘falls into’.
He is said to meet ‘all the criteria’ that the Belgian side are looking for, ‘both mentally and sportingly’, as they hunt for a new ‘defensive leader’.
This is something Struijk can ‘certainly provide’, since he has become a ‘natural leader’ at Leeds since his arrival.
One problem Brugge might have to face is the fact the defender renewed his contract at Elland Road towards the end of last year, which is why, on top of the mooted €15m transfer fee, they will ‘also have to free up a significant salary budget’ to bring the player from Yorkshire.
