According to Club America coach Miguel Herrera, the opportunity to land 27-year-old Dutch international and current PSV Eindhoven striker Luuk de Jong “has been laid on the table.” America and Herrera are looking to land an international player to rival Tigres’ Andre-Pierre Gignac (“a player with a bigger name than Gignac,” according to Herrera), and De Jong is the player the club and coach have landed on.
De Jong has been a sensational striker in the Dutch Eredivisie for both Twente and PSV. However, his success with Twente saw him earn a $18 million transfer to Borussia Monchengladbach as a 22-year-old where he struggled, scoring only six goals in 36 Bundesliga matches.
While at Gladbach, he went on loan to Newcastle United for the start of the 2013-14 season. He appeared in 12 Premier League matches for Newcastle without scoring a goal. Should America supporters be worried about this return from five years ago?
Absolutely not. As a Newcastle supporter, I’m here to tell you that’s not the entire story.
De Jong joined Newcastle only a couple years before their relegation. The shit was well and truly already hitting the fan.
The club had reached the heights of fifth in 2011-12, but finished 16th the following year after failing to make any real upgrades in the summer before panicking and purchasing five Frenchmen during the winter window.
De Jong joined the following summer on loan, but this was at the nadir of Alan Pardew being unspeakably trash as manager on Tyneside. That season, only Loic Remy and Yohan Cabaye (who jumped ship for PSG that January) were able to withstand being “Pardewed” (meaning: “to have previously been a great player and then to have lost all your talent and ability while playing under Mr. Pardew’s tutelage”) — the likes of Moussa Sissoko, Papiss Cisse and Hatem Ben Arfa all struggled mightily under the man who’s since gone on to flounder at Crystal Palace and West Brom.
After returning to Holland with PSV, De Jong promptly scored 20 goals in 32 matches (2014-15) and 26 goals in 33 matches (2015-16). However, after a drop-off last season and a return of four goals and two assists from 15 matches this campaign, it looks like the man with 14 Netherlands caps to his name is hungry for a fresh challenge.
According to Telesport, the transfer fee would be about $8.5 million for a proven striker entering his prime. The success of players like Jesus Corona, Andres Guardado, Hector Moreno and now Chucky Lozano in the Netherlands shows the symbiotic relationship between Liga MX and Eredivisie performance, and there’s no reason to think De Jong won’t help America close the gap on the defending champions.
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