Eredivisie 2024/25 Preview: Feyenoord

The 2023-24 Eredivisie season saw Feyenoord finish second behind PSV. It also witnessed the mercurial Mexican, Santi Gimenez, cruise to third in the Golden Boot race behind Luuk de Jong and Vangelis Pavlidis, with 23 goals. In part-thanks to the threat of Gimenez, and the assisting abilities of Calvin Stengs among others, an exciting Feyenoord team managed to score the second-highest tally in the league, with 92 goals – while a solid backline kept the second-best defensive record, with only 26 goals conceded all season.

The De Kuip residents notched big wins against bitter rivals Ajax, with a 4-0 (H) and then 6-0 (A), before victory in the KNVB Cup was the final gift Arne Slot could leave before being snatched up as a successor for Jurgen Klopp at Liverpool. With the entrance of Danish coach Brian Priske and a host of new faces, as well as the continued speculation around Gimenez’s future (as well as Atleti favourite David Hancko), Feyenoord find themselves in a mini transition period as the 2024-25 season kicks off this weekend.

Last season’s position: 2nd

Transfers In: Ondrej Lingr (Slavia Prague), Anis Hadj Moussa (Patro Eisden), Jeyland Mitchell (LD Alajuelense), Chris-Kévin Nadje (FC Versailles), Devin Haen (De Graafschap), Gijs Smal (FC Twente), Julian Carranza (Philadelphia Union)

Transfers Out: Mats Wieffer (Brighton), Ramon Hendriks (VfB Stuttgart), Lennard Hartjes (Excelsior), Thijs Jansen (SC Cambuur), Thomas van den Belt (Castellon, Loan), Mimeirhel Benita (Heracles Almelo, Loan), Ilias Sebaoui (SC Heerenveen), Devin Haen (FC Dordrecht), Alireza Jahanbakhsh (Released), Kostas Lamprou (Released)

Overview: For last term’s KNVB Cup champions and league runners up, the main task is to match the intensity with PSV’s presumably strong title defence, as well as the threat of Alkmaar, and a resurgent Ajax. Solidity will be required against the potential upsets within the division too, and regardless of the attacking staff changing, with Gimenez rumours swirling – that defensive excellence has to continue.

Aside from Stengs, Wellenreuther, Ayase Ueda and maybe Luka Ivanusec, last term’s arrivals are still getting to grips with Rotterdam it seems. So, in this case, Priske and the recruitment team need to be ever-cautious when dipping into a market that has already seen Anis Hadj Moussa, Jeyland Mitchell, and Chris-Kevin Nadje join the club among others.

Yakuba Minteh’s absence will be felt after his loan from Newcastle came to an end. As will Mats Wieffer, who moved on to Brighton for £30m. Funds recouped from that move, and others, will need to – and no doubt will – be used to the utmost impact. Regardless, there are a core of exciting players that will thrive off the back of positive individual efforts last season. Igor Paixao, Quinten Timber, Leo Sauer, and Quilindschy Hartman all put up promising numbers last term, although the latter will be missed until 2025 after he has recovered from his serious knee injury. Lutsharel Geertruida is another who fits in that bracket, and with his stocks ever-rising, this season we ask: can he cap his evolution from Feyenoord youth to team-leading defensive sentinel with yet more silverware before he is inevitably snapped up by one of Europe’s elites?

New boss Brian Priske is an interesting successor to Arne Slot. He has big shoes to fill, yet with back-to-back Czech titles firmly pushing the wind beneath his sails, it couldn’t be a better time for him to make the step up to Feyenoord – a team with big aspirations.

GBeNeFN | Max Bradfield