Johan Derksen believes Feyenoord should have let Anis Hadj Moussa join Al-Ittihad. The deal for the winger collapsed because the Saudi Pro League club did not want to provide a bank guarantee. As a result, Feyenoord miss out on a fee of up to €42.5 million.
"I do not think you can hold back a lad like that," Derksen said on Monday in the podcast Groeten uit Grolloo. "He has a one-off offer to earn 50 million over five seasons there. That is impossible here."
Keeping him also leaves Feyenoord with an unhappy, frustrated player who keeps thinking: why did they stop me? "They did not stop him because he is a wonder player, he is a decent right winger. But to sway public opinion in their favour," Derksen said about the failed transfer involving Hadj Moussa.
Then Derksen continued: "But if a director like that got an offer from Saudi Arabia, he would have been on the plane an hour later. But they stop a player like that. And I think: you cannot block an improvement in position for an employee."
Fellow podcaster Henk Kuipers also thinks Feyenoord should have sold Hadj Moussa. "I would then have kept that money back for a winter signing. Whether or not you can do without that lad. In the winter a new round of signings comes around. Then at least you would have had some money."
Back on the subject, Derksen added: "Feyenoord are now saying they wanted a bank guarantee. And in Saudi Arabia I do not think they know that concept. They are like: we always pay our bills. And I do understand why Feyenoord want that bank guarantee, because that is customary in transfers."
In Derksen's view, the way it ended will keep simmering with the attacker, who will therefore wear the Feyenoord shirt for the time being.