Although players can still be bought and sold on Monday, Earnest Stewart is already looking back on the past transfer period. The technical director of PSV acknowledges that it has been a difficult time. There have been many internal strife and the market was also very difficult, according to him. “I don’t understand what we are doing to each other.”
The goal at PSV was clear this transfer summer: keep the championship team of last season together. That mission was largely successful, but not without a fight. Internally, there were still many players who wanted to leave but ultimately stayed in Eindhoven.
“It hasn’t been a fun period internally,” Stewart admits. “Players see opportunities to play in a bigger league and to improve financially. That’s very understandable, but I have to look after PSV’s interests. That’s difficult.”
Olivier Boscagli and Walter Benitez, among others, would have liked to make a transfer, but the technical director refused.
“Not a single player had their price reduced this transfer window.”
PSV strengthened themselves early in the transfer window with Sergino Dest, Malik Tillman, Couhaib Driouech and Ryan Flamingo. “That was very important this summer. Because after that the transfer market started very slowly. And everyone suddenly had a hefty price tag.”
And PSV encountered that problem with Sepp van den Berg, among others. PSV was after the central defender of Liverpool for a very long time. The club wanted to buy the Dutchman for less than 20 million. But in the end he went to Brentford for 35 million.
Right back Rick Karsdorp joined PSV on a free transfer in the final days (photo: ANP/Bart Stoutjesdijk).
“Whether I was wrong about that,” Stewart repeats the question. “There is no sticker on such a player with a price. It is a long process with multiple hijackers on the coast. You hope that the prices will then go down. But the price of no player has gone down this transfer period. That is quite new.”
But at PSV there was certainly no outlet either. “We also stood firm with the entire board. We became champions, but that does not mean that we then sell players. That was difficult internally. But apart from a small moment with Jordan Teze, we got out of there.”
Also read: Defender Jordan Teze refused to continue playing for PSV for a while
Adamo Nagalo will be officially presented on Monday and with that the technical director has also strengthened the defense in the last few days. PSV can still do that because the transfer market in the Netherlands is open a few days longer than abroad. An advantage?
“I don’t understand what we’re all doing to each other. If it were up to me, the market would close on August 1. Nobody would be happy about this. We all need to see if we can close the transfer period before the start of the competition. But for us, this wasn’t an advantage. It also became quiet after Friday.”
All in all, Stewart can look back on the transfer period with satisfaction. Many key players have stayed in Eindhoven and reinforcements have arrived in time. “It was sometimes quite a push and pull, but it was especially important that we were able to present four new signings early on. Now it is important to become champions again. That is of course the goal.”
Earnest Stewart at PSV’s championship party (photo: OrangePictures).
