Joey Veerman is now a PSV Eindhoven player.
After rumours linking him with both Rangers and Feyenoord over the January transfer window, he completed the move to PSV on Tuesday evening.
The 23-year-old Dutch midfielder arrived from Heerenveen where he played for the club for three seasons.
Veerman has been impressing in the Eredivisie for a couple of seasons now and a move to a bigger club was always going to be the natural progression for him as he had outgrown Heerenveen.
How his career progresses will be interesting, and PSV will allow him to take the next step, playing at the elite end of the Eredivisie and in European competitions, this may also help put him on Louis Van Gaal’s radar for the World Cup this year.
This tactical analysis and Joey Veerman scout report will look at why Veerman was in such demand this transfer window and what PSV can expect from their new midfield maestro.
Position
Veerman is a central midfielder usually deployed as part of a double pivot or in a midfield three depending on the tactics of choice.
When playing for Heerenveen this season he was often featured on the left side (despite being predominantly right-footed) as shown by his heat map this season.
In possession, Veerman likes to drop deeper to get on the ball and orchestrate play with his brilliant passing ability and range, which we will later discuss.
He is a silky and intelligent footballer who plays with his head and demonstrates brilliant footballing intelligence.
Veerman is not a player you associate with pace or power but what he lacks in those areas he makes up for in quality and reading of the game.
Data
When addressing the data for this season in the Eredivisie it quickly becomes apparent why both PSV and Feyenoord were both so keen to sign Veerman.
He ranks very well in the majority of passing metrics with him being top five in expected assists, assists, through passes, passes to the final third, smart passes and progressive passes, this is an extremely impressive performance on the ball.
