René van der Gijp believes Sven Mijnans is ready for the next step in his career, he says at KieftJansenEgmondGijp. The midfielder is once again enjoying a superb season at AZ and is reportedly already attracting interest from clubs in Italy and England.
“We do, of course, have a very exciting final this year,” says Wim Kieft, looking cautiously ahead to the Eurojackpot KNVB Cup final, which will be played on 19 April. “AZ v NEC – they both play very good football.”
“Jordy Clasie is back, which is very important for them. But also Sven Mijnans – he’s a very good footballer, isn’t he?” says Kieft, who wonders whether the AZ midfielder can handle a higher level.
“Definitely!” responds Van der Gijp. “Mijnans reminds me a bit of Marten de Roon, a completely different sort of footballer. But I never expected him to go straight from Heerenveen to Italy and become a star there either. That could just as easily happen to Mijnans.”
“If he goes to Atalanta, he could well become a consistent and very good midfielder,” says Van der Gijp. “He could also handle Feyenoord, PSV or Ajax, but the problem is that second-tier clubs in Belgium and the Netherlands are asking for as much as 32 million euros for their players.”
It is unknown what AZ are currently asking for Mijnans, but last summer a transfer to PSV worth around 15 million euros fell through. Since then, the market value of Mijnans, who is under contract until mid-2028, seems only to have risen further.