Borussia Dortmund confirm signing of AZ Alkmaar youngster

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German giants Borussia Dortmund are set to announce the signing of teenager defender Immanuel Pherai from AZ Alkmaar, once they receive clearance from FIFA.


The 16-year-old, who is represented by super-agent Mino Raiola, has inked a three-year deal with the Bundesliga outfit. BvB have spent reasonable money on recruiting young talents in recent seasons with Christian Pulisic, and Ousmane Dembele being identifiable examples, and Pherai is the next in line after he confirmed the agreement via azfanpage.nl, he said: “We reached an agreement yesterday. I will join BVB.”

Pherai has been designated as a defensive midfielder by trade, and he could be groomed into the BvB first-team sooner rather than later with former Ajax coach Peter Bosz having taken over the reins from the departed Thomas Tuchel. Bosz made it a point to give teenagers a chance in Amsterdam, and he named a side with average age of just 20 during the final game of the Eredivisie season. Continue reading →

SOUTHAMPTON WANT AZ ALKMAAR DEFENDER

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Premier League side Southampton are reportedly interested in AZ Alkmaar star Ridgeciano Haps.


Southampton have always managed their transfer policies seemingly well but it seems they bit more than they can chew this season as they fell off their high horse in the league.

There are widespread rumours that Ryan Bertrand could exit the side this summer as interests in him rises. Chelsea are leading the pack to sign the Three Lions star from St Mary’ Stadium. The Saints are already preparing the AZ Alkmaar star as his replacement.

The 23-year old Haps has played 30 games in the Eredivisie this term so Claude Puel feels he is ripe for the role.

L’Equipe claims same Southampton want to get Toulose striker Martin Braithwaite this summer. The 25-year old scored 11 goals in 34 Ligue 1 games but the Dane is being chased by the Saints and the Hammers. He would cost £8 million but the French side want to keep him. The Dane might be positively predisposed to a Premier League side though. Continue reading →

TOTTENHAM WITHOUT HARRY KANE

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Premier League side Tottenham Hotspurs have been bothered by the injury of first choice striker Harry Kane.


The Three Lions striker helped the team move past FA Cup rival Millwall but not without an injury. He is not expected to return in a few weeks but the club must play on.

Harry Kane was brilliant last term and he continued the form this season. He has been involved directly and indirectly in 40 percent of Spurs’ goals this season. In his absence, the team would have to rely on other attackers to do the job but the thing is they are not as potent as he is.

In the game against Southampton, Coach Mauricio Pochettino used Son Heung-Min as the main player upfront. The 24-year old is known for depending more on his pace when evading defenders. His ball hold-up is not as developed and we saw it against The Saints. Son expended more time in the flanks and around than playing the position he was deployed to. Continue reading →

TIM KRUL’S DEBUT FOR AZ ALKMAAR RUINED

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The debut of former Newcastle United goalkeeper Tim Krul has been ruined with the 4-2 loss to PSV Eindoven on Saturday.


Krul moved to the Dutch side AZ Alkmaar after his spell at Ajax was terminated. He agreed a loan deal with his new club but the 28-year old had a poor outing on his debut as visitors PSV netted four times.

Jetro Willems opened the scoring in the first 15 minutes of the clash and soon added another. Gaston Pereiro returned the two goal lead after Fred Friday pulled one back for the host side. Continue reading →

AZ Alkmaar Boss Van Den Brom Dismisses Speculation about Maccabi Tel Aviv Move

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AZ Alkmaar managerJohn van den Brom says that there is no truth in the speculation linking him with a move to the Israeli outfit Maccabi Tel Aviv.


The club are without a manager and have reportedly identified van den Brom as the best possible option to lead them ahead. Vanden Brom has largely been in charge of Dutch clubs in his managerial career, which started in 2010. He has been in charge of clubs like Vitesse Arnhem and ADO Den Haag before coming to AZ Alkmaar. However, his last job was outside Holland while being in charge of Anderlecht for a period of two years.

One of the major attractions for joining a club like Maccabi Tel Aviv is the possibility of managing in the Champions League. The club narrowly missed out on the Premier European competition for this current campaign after finishing second behindHapoelBe’erSheva in the Championship round. Continue reading →

Van den Brom Confident of Victory against Roda JC

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AZ Alkmaar are looking to stretch their unbeaten run to 6 matches when they take onRoda JC in the Dutch Eredivisie this weekend.


The game sees the return of the club game after the last two weeks were taken up by international commitments. Rather than just train during this period, AZ Alkmaar decided to have a friendly match against Besiktas last week. It turned out to be a successful exercise for the Dutch team, as they won 4-1. Since the 1-0 win over Emmen towards the end of October, AZ Alkmaar have been unbeaten in the league.

They, however, have not been able to climb the table much thanks to a draw against Ajax. Even then, it is a positive run for the team. During this period, they also failed to win against Maccabi Tel Aviv, and the 0-0 draw continues to destroy any hopes of qualification into the knockout stages. In the Europa league, AZ Alkmaar have managed to take only two points from the opening four matches.

Even though it is still possible that they would be able to leapfrog both Maccabi Tel Aviv and Dundalk in the last two games, they need to recover quickly. Manager John van den Brom is hoping that the team can repeat the same brilliant performance against Ajax when they take onRoda JC.

“I like a small blow to the arm, but I think so. And if someone is not fit, then there are other players ready to have we have seen during the practice match against Besiktas. Guys like MuamerTanković, Gino Coutinho, mats seuntjens, Fernando Lewis, Iliass Bel Hassani and Fred Friday have really shown in that game. With Fred, you see that this week really back on training. his three goals against Besiktas are also a confirmation that it is a good striker,” said the manager about the team news.