The 20/21 Eredivisie season begins this Friday and we will preview the expectations of each Eredivisie club. In this article, we look at Heerenveen.

Last season was poor for Heerenveen, who have ambitions to be battling for the top seven and European places. The club struggled for goals at times and when the campaign ended they were sitting 10th and well behind the top seven.

This summer has been difficult for Heerenveen on the pitch and off of it so far. They have a paper-thin squad and have had to sell key man Chidera Ejuke in order to raise funds in order to strengthen their squad ahead of the campaign. Players have been brought in but will they be able to lift the club to a European spot?

Transfers

Ejuke was Heerenveen’s star man last season but he has been sold to CSKA Moscow for €11.5 million to raise funds. Ricardo van Rhijn, Warner Hahn, Filip Bednarek, Daniel Hoegh, and captain Hicham Faik have also gone, while Jens Odegaard and Sven Botman’s loans have ended.

Erwin Mulder has come in from Swansea City to be the new goalkeeper, while Hens Veerman has returned to the club from St. Pauli. Midfielder Sieben Dewaele is loaned from Anderlecht, while Joaquín Fernández comes in from River Plate.

The club has been working hard on deals with Pawel Bochniewicz signing to plug the gaps at the back while the very talented Oliver Batista Meier has been loaned from Bayern Munich. The club is also close to loaning centre-back Jan Paul van Hecke from Brighton.

Head Coach

Johnny Jansen has some good players at his disposal but the coach has to wait to see what squad he will have when the season begins.

The 45-year-old did an okay job last season but this year will be his big challenge.

Key Player

Henk Veerman has been brought back to the club and the striker has also been named captain of the club. He was in good form for St Pauli last season and will be relied on to bring in the goals.

Joey Veerman was linked with a move to Feyenoord but instead, the midfielder decided to renew his contract in Friesland. The 21-year-old is an excellent creative midfielder, who was a stand out last season.

Young Players to watch

Mitchell Van Bergen (21) is an excellent young winger full of tricks and pace, who scored five goals and gave six assists last season.

Oliver Batista Meier (19) has been brought in from Bayern Munich and the winger is a huge talent. The forward has already made his first-team debut in Munich and will be allowed to develop at Heerenveen. He could have the impact that Martin Odegaard had

Striker Rein Smit (19) and winger Arjen van de Heide (18) are breaking into the Heerenveen squad this season and will be ones to watch.

Pre-season

Preseason has been dreadful for Heerenveen with the club losing every game.

NAC Breda (0-1), Vitesse (1-2), De Graafschap (1-5), Utrecht (1-4), VfL Osnabrück (0-2), and PEC Zwolle (0-1) were all too strong for the Frisians.

Strongest line-up

Mulder, Floranus, Woudenberg, Dresevic, Bochniewicz, Veerman, Kongolo, Hajal, Meier, Van Bergen, Veerman

Predicted finish

Heerenveen is a difficult club to predict with their squad only just getting completed as the season starts.

Pre-season has been very poor in terms of results, but Heerenveen has managed to keep hold of Joey Veerman, and have a strong attack with the additions of Henk Veerman and Meier.

Heerenveen could add more players to their squad in the coming weeks and the club could be heading for a top ten finish. A European playoff spot is their aim.




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