Iliass Bel Hassani played alongside Wout Weghorst at both Heracles Almelo and AZ. At the request of ESPN’s De Voetbalkantine, the now-retired midfielder shares his memories of the Ajax striker.
Weghorst had his baptism of fire in the Eredivisie at Heracles. “Wout could certainly score. But we’re footballers and we love tricks, and Weghorst really couldn’t do that. You had to give him a long ball or a cross. He was very good at that.”
Bel Hassani recalls that those qualities were what led Weghorst to Manchester United. “Did I expect that based on his technique? No, definitely not,” the former playmaker admits honestly.
At Heracles, Weghorst forced a transfer to AZ, where the towering striker did everything he could to improve. “I’d go home and see Wout in the gym. I’d say: ‘What on earth are you doing, mate? Go home.’ But he wouldn’t. Wout was constantly working on getting better.”
“At one point, I genuinely thought he was ill. It was just not normal. But anyway, look where he’s ended up. That’s brilliant,” says Bel Hassani of the Ajax striker and 51-time Netherlands international.
Johan Voskamp, a former striker for Sparta Rotterdam and RKC Waalwijk, among others, is a great admirer of Weghorst. “He has a winner’s mentality and is confident in himself. I think that’s really quite special.”
Voskamp, on the other hand, emphasises that Weghorst certainly isn’t camera-shy. “Sometimes it’s the Wout Weghorst show. It’s the same with Wouter Goes. Perhaps it’s in the name. It’s not just about you. So if you’ve lost a match, there’s no need to wave your arms about and lie on the ground crying. Then the cameras will be on you and you’ll be in the papers again the next day.”