Blog: Player movement - at last

At last I have something to write about, this week we have witnessed our first signing of the summer (discounting the loans becoming permanent).

We should all have known it would be a typical Mowbray signing, unheard of on the media rumour mill, a player from Europe we know little about and hopefully like many others from last season another Mowbray gem.

So who is Gianni Zuiverloon?

Well I will not bore you with all the information you can get from other sites or wikipedia, so what I have done is contact someone who knows all there is to know about Dutch football and get his opinion.

Karl works for Netherlands Public Broadcasting and is a self proclaimed football fanatic who has lived in Holland for seven years.


Karl said, “Gianni is rated very highly, technically good, quick, good passer and likes to get forward. Not a bad tackler, ok in the air, his main weakness and this is as much due to his age, is his positioning, but his pace often gets him out of trouble.

Overall I think West Bromwich Albion has made an excellent acquisition and I am a little surprised he has been allowed to leave without other more prestigious clubs being interested. I think this maybe due to the speed of which this deal was done.

The price may seem high for a right back (I also asked if he could play centre half but Karl said he is more suited to full back due to his willingness to get forward), and believe it or not that maybe another reason why other Dutch clubs including Ajax could not buy him, but this guy has the capability to be in the full Dutch squad in a couple of years and then £4million euros seems cheap”.

He also went on to say, “Gianni is similar in style to Gael Clichy of Arsenal, in fact it had been rumoured in Holland that Arsenal had been tracking him recently”.

Personally I think it is an interesting signing, at £3.2million I would not expect him to be warming the bench too often and that will mean Hoefkens losing his place. However with Zuiverloon possibly competing at the Olympics with Holland U21s, he will not be available for the start of the season, giving Carl an opportunity to hold his place at right back.

Well as first signings go it was typical Mowbray, and I look forward to seeing who next rolls through the door. I expect next week to be a busy week in the transfer market, with players returning to pre-season training and professional football in this country returning to full time work (if you can call it that).

http://www.expressandstar.com/2008/07/04/blog-player-movement-at-last/