Brighton and Hove Albion’s latest signing, Mats Wieffer, has insisted the offer was just too good to turn down for him this summer.
The midfielder has been speaking to RTV Rijnmond in the Netherlands about his move to Brighton and why he chose to join the Seagulls.
Wieffer completed a move to Brighton last week, joining them in a €30m deal from Feyenoord as they continue to rebuild this summer.
The move was one that was completed quickly by the Premier League side, who seem to have moved with rapid pace to secure the player’s okay and then get a deal done with Feyenoord.
That’s not been completed, and they’ve made Wieffer their third most expensive signing ever, behind Yankuba Minteh and Joao Pedro.
While he is seen as a big coup for the Seagulls, some have questioned why Wieffer would want the move to the south coast given he was being linked to the likes of Atletico Madrid in the January transfer window.
The belief, at least according to some journalists in the Netherlands, was that he and Feyenoord could have waited longer this summer and got themselves a bigger club and a bigger deal.
It seems Wieffer does not share that mindset, though, and instead insists that Brighton was too good of an opportunity to say no to.
“Every now and then I have to pinch myself when I think back on the past two years,” he said.
“Becoming champion, playing the Champions League with Feyenoord, winning the cup, seeing De Kuip and Coolsingel in ecstasy: these are all things you dream of as a footballer. I feel lucky to have experienced it and to be able to work for such I was able to play at a wonderful club like Feyenoord.
“Of course I will miss the players, the staff and everyone else around the first team and it feels strange to say goodbye to the supporters and Rotterdam.
“But this is an opportunity that I cannot say no to. I am therefore very much looking forward to this new adventure, but before that happens, I would like to thank all Feyenoorders for the wonderful time.”
