Depending on who you believe, Rangers either made a bid for Joey Veerman… or they didn’t.
According to De Telegraaf, one of the biggest football-based websites in the Netherlands, Rangers put a fee of around £4 million on the table for the Heerenveen talisman last summer.
The Athletic, however, believe that such an offer never arrived with the Glasgow giants coming to the conclusion that the fee Heerenveen wanted – rumoured to be around £9 million – was well out of their reach.
What appears to beyond dispute, however, is that Veerman had his admirers at Ibrox. Especially in the dugout.
Steven Gerrard, in particular, was understood to be a big fan of the 23-year-old Dutchman.
Given that Veerman has built a reputation for himself as one of the most complete, all-round midfielders in the Eredivisie, snapping into bone-shaking tackles one second before hammering the ball into the bottom corner the next, it’s tempting to wonder if Gerrard saw a bit of himself in the former Volendam man.
Will Rangers rue not signing Joey Veerman?
“He has exceptional qualities,” says Hans Westerhof, a Heerenveen board member, after Veerman’s scorching long-range winner away to Heracles Almelo this weekend, a goal Gerrard would have been proud of in his own playing days.
“How he passes a ball over 50 meters… I don’t even see Frenkie de Jong doing that.”
Given that De Jong has been one of the few bright sparks in a miserable period in Barcelona’s modern history, emerging as perhaps the best number six in European football in the last few seasons, that is some claim.
“What worries me is that there aren’t many players who represent a high transfer value (to Heerenveen), as has been the case for years,” Westerhoff adds.
“I don’t see anyone other than Joey who has to bring in a high amount.”
Since the start of 2019/20, only Dusan Tadic, Steven Berghuis, Bryan Linssen and the now-Dortmund forward Donyell Malen have contributed to more goals in the Eredivisie than Veerman.
It was Gerrard who wanted Veerman at Ibrox. But with an Eredivisie expert in Giovanni van Bronckhorst now at the helm, there’s little chance that Veerman would have been lost in the churn from one manager to the next.
In fact, he may have thrived.
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