ANPJustin Bijlow
NOS Voetbal•gisteren, 17:12
Justin Bijlow was on the verge of a transfer to Premier League club Southampton, but that move did not go through. The Feyenoord goalkeeper failed the medical examination for the English team, he himself reported on Instagram.
“The medical examination showed that Southampton has a different view than Feyenoord on the treatment of an old injury,” Bijlow writes. “I am fully fit and this does not hinder me, but I respect the view of the Southampton medical staff.”
Bijlow will rejoin Feyenoord after his transfer fell through. “This means I’m returning to Rotterdam, to my club Feyenoord. My bond with the city and the club is rock solid. I’ll keep fighting for a place in the goal of Feyenoord and the Dutch national team.”
Last Sunday, Bijlow said goodbye to the Feyenoord crowd in tears.
Bijlow bids farewell to Feyenoord fans in tears, transfer to Southampton awaits
The 26-year-old Bijlow is known as a goalkeeper with a long history of injuries. Since the start of the 2022/23 season, he has been struggling with injuries to his calf and a broken wrist, causing him to miss a total of more than 40 Feyenoord matches. Before that, Bijlow also had to deal with injuries, including a torn cruciate ligament in 2016.
This season he lost his starting place at Feyenoord. Trainer Brian Priske chose Timon Wellenreuther as first goalkeeper in the Johan Cruijff Shield and the first league matches. That was also the reason Bijlow wanted to make a transfer, he writes.
“I didn’t find that easy and it wasn’t my first choice, but it had to be in the interest of my career,” said the goalkeeper.
Stengs and Ayoub
Feyenoord player Calvin Stengs recently experienced something similar to Bijlow. He was already in London to undergo a medical examination for a transfer to the American Charlotte FC, but at the last moment that transfer did not go through.
There were rumors that a weak knee would have prevented Stengs’ transfer to Charlotte, but this was denied by the player himself. He spoke of “blah blah stories” that irritated him.
Yassin Ayoub, previously active for Feyenoord but in recent years under contract with fellow city club Excelsior, also failed a medical examination this summer. He was supposed to transfer to Moroccan Wydad Casablanca.