After making the step up from Heracles to Groningen this summer, Bryan Linssen is set to become one of the Eredivisie ‘s players to watch this season.
- By James Rowe
Whilst attending Ajax’s 2-0 win over VVV Venlo in November 2012 an attacking midfielder caught my eye. No it was not one of Ajax’s midfield trio that included on that day Christian Eriksen, Siem de Jong and Daley Blind, but VVV Venlo youngster Bryan Linssen . The 21-year-old winger impressed me with his attacking intent, intelligent runs, and excellent dribbling skills despite his teams defeat.
Since that game I followed his progress, with Linssen signing for Heracles Almelo the following season, which was surprising because I thought he would be of interest to a more well know and established Eredivisie club. But in Almelo, Linssen quickly found himself in the role of talisman.
They suffered a disastrous start to last season, not winning any of their first seven games, and they looked dead and buried just six weeks into the new season. But Linssen proved invaluable to their survival with his ten goals and eight assists pushing the club to a comfortable finish in 14th.
This summer Linssen ended his two year spell in Almelo, in which he netted 21 goals in 64 league games, to sign for FC Groningen, stating after the move, “FC Groningen fits with me. I started at Fortuna, before moving to MVV ,VVV and Heracles, every time a step up.”
A sensible transfer for the 24-year-old, who moves to a club that will not only challenge for the top six in the Eredivisie, but will also compete in this season’s Europa League group stages after picking up the KNVB Cup last season. The Pride of the North have proved to be a good stepping stone for players such as Tjaronn Chery, Leandro Bacuna and Virgil van Dijk over the past few years, with all three earning big European moves after impressing at the Euroborg.
Its still early days at Groningen for Linssen, but the signs have been good for the midfielder, who has been the standout player in Edwin van de Looi’s side that lost the Johan Cruyff Schaal to PSV, and drew 1-1 with FC Twente in their opening Eredivisie fixture.
Linssen will be hoping to continue his impressive form throughout this season, which may see the tricky forward not only earn a move abroad, but also come into the interest of national team boss Danny Blind.