It must be said that since Mauricio Pochettino left Tottenham Hotspur, the North London club has not looked settled with any manager. Despite seeing some world-class managers such as Antonio Conte and Jose Mourinho, no head coach has made it through the hard times.
The latter, Jose Mourinho, made a signing which still stings Tottenham Hotspur fans to this day, through no fault of his own.
At the end of the 2020 January transfer window, Jose Mourinho signed then-young winger Steven Bergwijn from PSV. He spent two years at Tottenham, before being sold to Ajax.
So, Bergwijn is not remembered well by Tottenham fans. Frankly, he underperformed, scoring only seven Premier League goals in 60 games.
However, his most recent transfer sums up his career, unfortunately.
Tottenham flop banished from national team for controversial transfer
Earlier this week, it was announced that Steven Bergwijn had joined Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad. He made the move on the Saudi Arabian transfer deadline day.
It must be said that it’s never a good sign when a once-promising youngster moves to the Saudi Pro League, before even entering his prime.
While the Saudi Pro League is making moves to become one of the best leagues in the world, this will take many years of effort. Right now, it is simply viewed as a league to join when players reach the end of their careers. It is hardly a league for young players like Bergwijn to prosper.
Bergwijn did not impress at Tottenham but now in the prime of his career, it’s safe to say his career has been a flop. A three time league champion at PSV, the Netherlands international now plays in the Saudi Pro League, aged at 26 years old.
As such, Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman is not happy with Steven Bergwijn. As per Daily Star, he was very open, claiming that “the book is closed” to Bergwijn, who is not in the immediate plans for the Netherlands national team, after making the decision to join Al Ittihad for non-sporting reasons.
In his own words, Koeman said: “When you are 26, your main ambition should be sporting, not financial. These are choices that players make. The book is basically closed to him. He knows what I think about this.”
Ouch. That’s got to hurt, especially hearing it from your own national team manager. From a Tottenham perspective, it’s interesting to see how a former player may have ruined his international career at just 26 years old.
