ADO Den Haag defender Milan van Ewijk has seemingly ruled out a summer move to Celtic, telling Voetbal Zone he plans to stay in the Eredivisie for the time being.
However, if the Amsterdam-born defender wants to play top-flight football in 2021/22, he’ll have to bid farewell to the club he joined two years ago from Excelsior.
ADO are stuck in the relegation zone, well adrift of safety and staring at the drop.
Voetbal International reports Celtic, Schalke, Hamburg and Gent are queuing up to rescue Van Ewijk from the depths of the Eerste Divisie when the summer window swings open.
But it seems the 20-year-old is awaiting offers from elsewhere in Holland instead, hoping a Utrecht, Heerenveen or Twente come calling for the highly rated right-back.
“The Netherlands is a familiar environment for me. That is why I would prefer to learn here instead of abroad, where I don’t know anyone at all,” explains Van Ewijk, the brightest spark in a dark season for ADO.
“I want to grow gradually – as a player and as a person.
“I do sometimes hear there are clubs (interested in me) but I leave that to my father and my agent. I prefer to stay in the Netherlands now.”
Van Ewijk admits he’s keen to ply his trade in Britain at some point in the future – although it’s the English Premier League, rather than the Scottish Premiership, that holds his gaze.
“I have the strength and lung capacity for it. I like the hardness there,” says Van Ewijk, who has completed the most tackles in the whole Eredivisie this term.
Celtic lost Jeremie Frimpong and Hatem Abd Elhamed in January so finding a new right-back is a must. However, Van Ewijk is unlikely to fill that particular void in the Hoops’ XI.
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