Omar Rekik and Mika Biereth look set for season-long loan moves in Holland as Arsenal gear them up for life in senior football.
Defender Rekik, a full international with Tunisia, is reportedly set to join Sparta Rotterdam while striker Biereth, a Denmark under-19 international, is, according to The Athletic, being linked with RKC Waalwijk.
Rekik, 20, is no stranger to a move. Born in Holland, the centre-back started his career at Feyenoord before taking in stints at Manchester City, PSV Eindhoven and Marseille. The Gunners signed him from Hertha Berlin in January 2021 and he was a regular with the under-23s last season.
Exclusif (mercato): #Omar_Rekik signe un contrat de prêt d'une saison pour l'équipe néerlandaise du #SpartaRotterdam. Le contrat garantit au joueur de jouer de 75% à 90% des matchs, sinon le club supportera une amende pouvant aller jusqu'à un million d'euros. pic.twitter.com/PpaVpjYRyS
— Ihsen Ben Salah (@sadanpoche) June 19, 2022
Had he not earned a surprise call-up to the African Cup of Nations in January, he’d likely have spent the second half of the 2021/22 season with Stoke City who were known to be interested. No doubt the player will have one eye on World Cup selection with his country set to face Denmark, Australia and France in the group stages.
Biereth arrived at Arsenal last summer from Fulham and was quick to make his impact on the under-23s. The 19-year-old scored 12 goals in 26 appearances and was included on the bench for a number of first team matches. While he’s yet to make his debut for Mikel Arteta’s first team, hopes are high that he can take a serious claim within a couple of years.
In addition to sorting loan moves for a number of Academy players, Per Mertesacker also needs to appoint new coaches at both under-23 and under-18 level after Kevin Betsy and Dan Micciche left to join Crawley Town. It’s promising to be a very busy summer for the BFG.
Good luck to both of them, loads of potential, hope they make the step up!
And good that they are paying for it themselves, going Dutch…
I heard that Lille and a few other bigger clubs were in for Rekik.
But it’s smart to get him into a club where he’s more likely to get regular first team football. I even heard rumours about a clause in his contract that states Sparta have to give him game time.
Great stuff. I hope a few other of the young lads get their chance elsewhere. Would love to see Karl Hein, Salah and Hutchinson get some sustained mens football under their belt too.
According to the above tweet, the contract guarantees that he will play 75% to 90% of matches or Sparta have to pay a fine of up to €1 million.
Thanks for the translation dude!
I like that. Definitely makes more sense than a loan fee.
Nice work Dickie G!
According to the post, Rekik has been at Feyenoord, Man City, PSV, and Marseille. He is 20. Actually, I probably had that many jobs by the time I was 20 too. Longevity was not my strength.
I really like that our lads are starting their adult careers in Holland. Aren’t we always bantering about some 20 or 21 year old talents from the Eredivisie as potential transfer targets? Well now some of them will already belong to us. Hope they’re able to feature for their clubs and give Arteta some options in a year or two.