Cyriel Dessers (ST) - Heracles
Projected Fee: £5m
Cyriel Dessers: Profile, statistics, career stats and pitch position
Heracles are enjoying a middling Eredivisie season, but have a modest squad and budget and their top-half position is largely down to the efforts of Cyriel Dessers.
Dessers has spent time in Belgium and in the Dutch Second Division, with his 29 goals in 40 games sending NAC Breda to the Eredivisie in 2016/17. After two seasons at Utrecht where he battled for a starting position, he is now playing every week for Heracles and is finding his stride.
His 19 NP Contributions is the third-highest in the league, he has been directly involved in 50% of Heracles’ goals, and his 0.74 NP Contributions P90 places him ninth in the division, behind most of the big guns.
And on shot accuracy, he is the best in the league among those who have hit 50 shots or more, with 56% - better than both division leaders Mryon Boadu and Donyell Malen. His total NPxG of 12.94 is second only to Boadu, while his NPxG P90 is fifth. His Touches In Box total of 7.5 places him in the top five.
Considering the standard of the club Dessers plays at, these are enviable numbers. A call-up to the Nigeria squad for the first time (though obviously never actually featuring, due to the coronavirus crisis) in March 2020 shows he is on an upward trajectory.
The sample size of his ability is small and one small concern would be his Contribution Spread of 42% means he is a little streaky; 11 of his total 20 goals + assists came in a five-week period in October into November.
Also, he's a player that clearly prefers home comforts; 17 of his 20 goals + assists have been at home. He is also 25 years of age, so is far from a work in progress. But he is a strong, bustling, frontman that is not afraid of physical confrontations but also has a distinct turn of pace. These skillsets combined make for an interesting package.
Heracles' transfer record is around £4m. For a lower-end Premier League club or Championship, his attributes are well worth a look at what could be a shot to nothing.
Teun Koopmeiners (DMC) - AZ
Projected Fee: £10m
Teun Koopmeiners: Profile, statistics, career stats and pitch position
With Oussama Idrissi, Calvin Stengs and Boadu doing great things in attack for AZ in their title-challenging season, Koopmeiners goes under the radar a little but that could be set to change.
A metronomic Dutch player in the style (and build) of Frenkie De Jong, Koopmeiners does as you’d expect; collects the ball and brings it forward to feed the more talented players ahead of him.
And he’s very good at it, on a consistent basis:
KOOPMEINERS: EREDIVISIE STATS
Donyell Malen (PSV)
| Statistic | Score | League Rank |
| Passes P90 | 83.2 | 3rd |
| Touches P90 | 98.9 | 2nd |
| Goal Contributions | 11 | T12th |
| FC Average Rating | 7.6 | 3rd |
| FC Rating | 80 | T4th |
His Touches P90 and Passes P90 signify the kind of player that isn’t all that common in the modern game, and is much-coveted. He is one of the best ball circulators in the division and at just 22 - he has been capped 13 times for Netherlands U21- has the type of profile that most possession-based teams would covet.
Another side of his game is his penalty taking - we highlight it here because nine of his 11 goals are penalties but six proved decisive in matches, which points to a calm temperament under pressure. He’s also received seven FC Man of the Match awards - joint-most with Dusan Tadic.
In a team where all the focus has shifted to the abilities of the forward talent, for AZ to even compete in the position they are - pushing hard at an Ajax side who were fifteen seconds away from last season's Champions League final - is testament to the talent they have not just up front but throughout their group.
Gyrano Kerk (FW RC) - Utrecht
Projected Fee: £4m
Gyrano Kerk: Profile, statistics, career stats and pitch position
Kerk is in his fourth season at Utrecht now, and purely in terms of goals and assists it has been his most lucrative so far. His team are among those pushing to be the best of the rest beyond the 'big four' in the Eredivisie, and Kerk's displays have been well worth watching.
His 17 NPG contributions represent his best season despite two months of the season still remaining, on an xG + xA of roughly 13, meaning he isn't massively overperforming and is an excellent return for a wide forward more used to taking on defenders than being in optimum scoring positions. You can also add in another four assists picked up in the KNVB Beker.
His 3.1 completed dribbles P90 is also the eighth-best in the division behind some stellar names such as Hakim Ziyech and Dusan Tadic. What's also interesting is his Contribution Spread of 58%, meaning he provided a contribution in 14 of his 24 league outings. Interesting, seven of those 14 have been away, meaning he performs even when home comforts can't be relied upon.
Kerk can be a frustrating figure at times, dribbling a little too often and he could maybe lift his head more, because when he does he puts his team-mates in good positions, with intelligent, well-placed low crosses being a particular forte of his. Also at the age of 24 it has taken him time to put up numbers that are eye-catching at this level.
He was linked with a £3.5m move to Celtic in January and while that move didn't work the Eredivisie is a better standard and he would be featuring for the best team in the country. Scotland could be a perfect move to allow him to improve his numbers even further and then, after that, who knows?
Teun Koopmeiners
Gyrano Kerk
Cyriel Dessers
Ajax
PSV
AZ
Utrecht
Heracles
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