The recent news of the European football transfer market is no longer surprising. Marco van Ginkel again signed a contract with Chelsea and again ... remains on loan from another club. PSV from Eindhoven was again lucky to keep the player. And again we got the opportunity to reflect on whether all beautiful flowers become fruits, that is, all talents become football stars?
Young yes early
The father of our hero is a soccer player of the Dutch Utrecht. Therefore, a guy grew up in a family where football is a family affair. Already in childhood showed the talent of a midfielder. It is not surprising that at the age of 17 he made his debut in Vitesse FC, and at 18 he became the club’s leading player, received the title “Talent of the Year”, brought his team to the Euroleague (4th place in the Eredivisi) and made his debut there, during the tournament, Russian football fans remembered in matches against the Anzhi Makhachkala. He was remembered not only by us, but also by many scout services of the leading clubs in Europe. “Chelsea” here without much talk laid out for the young Dutchman a tidy sum. What attracted the footballer Marco van Ginkel to the British?
Delight Mourinho
Van Ginkel plays the position of a central midfielder, but he is also praised for his ability to play in many positions, including defensive and offensive. From the first days in “Vitesse” he mainly played as an attacking midfielder, but he is also able to be a back midfielder.
Already in Vitesse, Van Ginkel was recognized as a solid, mature player who has everything to become a superstar. On the field, he impressively controlled the ball and the vast playing space. He plays equally well with both legs, competently chooses a position on the field and has an exceptional long-range strike.
Van Ginkel says the same thing about himself: "I can score goals and be important for defense."
Former Chelsea head coach Jose Mourinho, the initiator of the purchase of the young Dutchman, generally likened him to the great Englishmen Frank Lampard and Stephen Gerrard. He called him “a powerful engine of the team game”: “He controls the area of the field, which is fantastic in area, and besides, he has a flair not only for his own goals, but also for where to pass, so that he turns into a goal.”
Pros and cons
In general, Marco van Ginkel is a cool football player. It’s universal, fast, sees the field perfectly, is technical, energetic, plays well with the head, hits the goal from afar, passes passes perfectly ... But why is it still not a superstar ?!
Specialists called Marco's lack of physical fitness the main reason for this. In Holland, his puny figure seemed a contradiction as to how much energy he left on the field. However, the matches for Vitesse made us think about Van Ginkel’s special anatomy, about the “engine” of special “design” ...
However, the move to the English Premier League confirmed fears. A tough game in Albion - and a seven-month injury knocked the guy out of orbit already in the fourth game for Chelsea. And then ... Further, it seems that Marco lost faith in himself, and star comrades in the line did not doze off in training and in games.
The general opinion that the guy needs to grow stronger physically, “Chelsea” announced the very next season, sending Marco for rent in the star “Milan”. In Italy, Van Ginkel scored the first goal almost immediately, and then the tough Italian defenders in the eighteenth game for the “red-blacks" caused the Dutchman another injury, which cost him three months of inactivity.
Return to Chelsea did not take place. For playing practice, Van Ginkel was sent to a modest Stoke City. Serious injuries did not happen there, but he missed a number of matches due to injuries.
Home star?
It was only on his return to Holland, again on lease from Chelsea, that the 2013 talent seemed to begin to recover. He made PSV the champion of the country, scores many goals, finally resembles himself in his youth.
Maybe so Van Ginkel finally ripens? Believe, it seems, in this and in “Chelsea”. The contract with him is renegotiated, but it seems he will “ripen” again on a lease in Eindhoven. Asked “PSV” was the Londoners to yield to Marco at a modest price, they say, the guy in England still doesn’t succeed, but the British, apparently, believe that Van Ginkel will still turn into a “supernova”.
Although in less than four months, Marco van Ginkel will be 26 years old. Is it too late for the "explosion"? History, of course, knows examples with much older footballers, but there are equally serious fears that Marco will be the next mirage of a great football star who was about to break out in the sky of world fame, but he didn’t. For the Dutch championship, however, Marco is still a phenomenon, but as though not to remain a home star.
The Dutch are expecting that Marco van Ginkel in the FIFA ranking will finally raise the Dutch team, in which the guy also did not really work out so far.
With the real size of Van Ginkel’s talent, everything will become clear in the next couple of seasons. Not for nothing that Chelsea signed a contract with him until 2020.
Dossier
Wilfert Cornelius (Marco) van Ginkel is a footballer.
Born December 1, 1992 in Amersfoort.
Role: midfielder.
Anthropometry: 186 cm, 77 kg.
Career:
- 2010-13 - FC Vitesse (Arnhem) - 111 games, 23 goals;
- since 2012 - the Dutch team - 5 games;
- 2013-14 - Chelsea (London) - 4 games;
- 2014-15 - AC Milan - 18 games, 1 goal;
- 2015-16 - "Stoke City" - 21 games;
- since 2016 - PSV (Eindhoven) - 64 games, 31 goals.
Achievements:
- Champion of Holland 2016.
- Talent of the Year in the Netherlands (Cruyff Award) 2013.