Jerry St Juste has been coveted by Netherlands top clubs for years and after an impressive campaign with Heerenveen, the centre-back has been captured by Feyenoord.
- By James Rowe
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Born in Groningen, Jeremiah St Juste joined the Heerenveen Academy at the age of 11 and quickly rose through the youth teams while also representing Netherlands at U17, U18 and U19 level. In 2015, St Juste made his debut as a late substitute against Vitesse Arnhem and towards the end of the campaign became a first team regular.
The following campaign he was an ever present in the Frisian’s side and started to draw attention from around Europe with Manchester United’s name linked. However, he remained at Heerenveen last season and once again impressed even through the Frisian’s had a difficult campaign.
This summer, the 20-year-old was coveted by all three of Netherlands top three clubs but he decided to join Feyenoord in a deal worth around €5 million, signing a four-year contract. He stated to Voetbal inside ”I have always liked Feyenoord it is a great club with fantastic fans. The best club in the Netherlands in my opinion.”
Interestingly, St Juste is one of four siblings with his two brother’s currently playing futsal while his sister is a fashion model and TV presenter in the Netherlands.
Style of play
St Juste is a centre-back by trade, but has the ability to cover at full back and can even step into midfield. He is powerful and possesses a fantastic ability to man mark his opponent and consistently use his strength to steer off danger.
Like most Dutch centre-back’s, St Juste is very comfortable with the ball at his feet and he was among the best passers in the Eredivisie last season. His vision and passing ability will be a big asset for Feyenoord in the coming campaign’s.
He isn’t the tallest of defenders, but makes up for it with a good leap, while his pace and agility get him out of trouble if he ventures forward. St Juste can sometimes be a bit too eager to jump into a tackle and that led to two red cards last season.
What to expect from Jerry St Juste this season
After joining the Eredivisie champions he will be looking to break into Giovanni van Bronckhorst’s side and oust Eric Botteghin or Jan-Arie van der Heijden as first choice centre-back. He will no doubt continue his development as one of the countries top young defenders in Rotterdam and should he do that it will not be too long before he is involved in future Netherlands squads.
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