Football Season Guide

Eredivisie

Netherlands

Eredivisie

2019/2020

FC Emmen

In

Desevio Payne (def)(SBV Excelsior); Ferhat Görgülü (def)(Giresunspor); Filip Ugrinic (mid)(FC Luzern, on loan); Jan-Niklas Beste (def)(Werder Bremen, on loan); Leon Sopić (def)(NK Rudes); Lorenzo Burnet (def)(Excelsior); Marko Kolar (att)(Wisla Krakow); Matthias Hamrol (gk)(Korona Kielce); Nikolai Laursen (att)(PSV); Shani Tarashaj (att)(Everton, on loan); Stefan van der Lei (gk)(free agent); Tom Hiariej (mid)(Central Coast Mariners)

Out

Alexander Bannink (r)(mid)(Go Ahead Eagles); Andrej Lukić (def)(Sporting Braga, end of loan); Caner Cavlan (k)(def)(Austria Wien); Emil Bijlsma (mid)(VV Hoogeven; Gersom Klok (r)(def)(HHC Hardenberg); Hilal Ben Moussa (sp)(mid)(Sepsi OSK); Jason Bourdouxhe (sp)(def)(TOP Oss); Kjell Scherpen (k)(gk)(Ajax); Luciano Slagveer (r)(att)(KSC Lokeren, end of loan); Nick Kuipers (sp)(def)(ADO Den Haag, end of loan); Nicklas Pedersen (sp)(att)(retired); Nico Neidhart (def)(Hansa Rostock); Peter van der Vlag (gk)(retired); Reuven Niemeijer (sp)(mid)(Heracles Almelo, end of loan); Stef Gronsveld (sp)(def)(FC Dordrecht); Stephen Warmolts (def)(HHC Hardenberg); Sven Braken (sp)(att)(NEC Nijmegen, end of loan); Tim Siekman (sp)(def)(released); Zakaria El Azzouzi (att)(FC Volendam)

FC Emmen undoubtedly were one of the main surprises of the past campaign as they managed to reach salvation in their first Eredivisie season ever despite an extremely limited budget and no stars to count on. Coach Lukkien, the architect of their miraculous promotion to the top flight and an even more impressive subsequent salvation, will still be in charge, for the 4th season straight, but he will have to deal with a completely renewed squad as 19 players left while almost as many arrived over the summer. Even though several protagonists of the past campaign left for pastures new or returned to their parent clubs, among them Bannink, Cavlan, Klok and Slagveer, without any doubts, the key departure was represented by Scherpen. The 18-year-old goalie was bought by Ajax: his saves had proven decisive for their survival and will now be highly missed. The German/Polish Hamrol was hired to replace him between the sticks but he has limited top flight experience, just 22 games in Poland last campaign,. FC Emmen management especially went looking for more experience in the other departments: former Groningen Hiariej will add muscle to the midfield, but he might be rusty after two years in Australia, and the Turkish Gorgulu should strengthen an otherwise vulnerable defence. Last season, the attack represented one of Emmen's main weaknesses, with no scorer standing out, but this must have not looked a problem for Lukkien as only the promising Laursen and Tarashaj were signed. The two can be accounted for just 1 goal overall in the past season.

Target

Reaching salvation would represent another miracle for Emmen.