Southampton loanee Armel Bella-Kotchap is a ‘wonderful’ signing for PSV Eindhoven with the Eredivisie challengers delighted to complete what was initially viewed as an ‘impossible’ challenge.
PSV’s technical director could have been forgiven for imagining himself as Dutch football’s answer to Tom Cruise on deadline day. Mission ‘Impossible’? Not quite; the Eredivisie giants completing one of the window’s biggest coups when snapping up a defender who, had things worked out differently, would not be earning a living at Borussia Dortmund, RB Leipzig or even Bayern Munich instead.
Armel Bella-Kotchap joins on a season-long loan deal from Southampton.
And PSV chief Earnest Stewart, by his own admission, was not expecting to see one of Europe’s best young centre-halves arrive to boost the title prospects of a team looking to end their five-year absence from Dutch football’s throne.
PSV sign Armel Bella-Kotchap from Southampton
“When I got up (on deadline day), the focus was very much on bringing in a defender. That was really important for us,” Stewart tells PSV TV.
“This name (Bella-Kotchap) has been on our list for some time. But, four weeks earlier, our information was that it was impossible to get him.
“When he arrived, it was wonderful. It is nice to add such a player to the squad, to be able to take the next steps. This is the icing on the cake. He is really an asset.
“He’s physically well-constructed and can pass through the opponent’s lines well. He also has the speed to play with space in behind.”
Permanent deal too expensive
Bella-Kotchap, who joined Southampton for a bargain £10 million from VFL Bochum in 2022, arrives on loan, albeit without an option or obligation-to-buy clause in his contract.
PSV, Stewart explains, simply cannot afford the sort of fee Southampton would demand to sign the Germany international on a permanent basis.
“It was clear from the start that this was not realistic by PSV standards,” Stewart sighs. “We really cannot handle that, not even in a year.”
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