A quick glance at the list of recent Eredivisie Golden Boot winners will tell you that, when you’re signing a striker from the Netherlands, there is always a degree of risk attached.
Yes, you’ve got your Xavi Simons, your Ruud van Nistelrooy, your Dusan Tadic, your Luis Suarez. But then, on the other hand, you’ve got Mateja Kezman, Afonso Alves, Vincent Janssen and Nicolai Jorgensen.
Which camp Vangelis Pavlidis ends up falling into remains to be seen.
But, six months after HITC reported that there was interest from Premier League trio West Ham United, Fulham and Crystal Palace in the stylish centre-forward, how Pavlidis fares in the Portuguese capital should go a long way to providing an answer.
After a drawn out transfer saga, Pavlidis is now officially a Benfica player.
The Primeira Liga powerhouses will pay £16 million up front, rising to £18 million in bonuses, after Pavlidis found himself sharing the Golden Boot with PSV captain and one-time Newcastle United loanee Luuk de Jong in 2023/24.
West Ham and Fulham scouted Vangelis Pavlidis
“After a period of adaptation, he made a huge impact on the team,” says Max Huiberts, the director of an AZ Alkmaar side who have just earned a huge profit via Pavlidis’ sale, via A Bola.
“Not only with his many goals, but also with his personality and professionalism. With his mentality, attitude and work ethic, he won over his team-mates.
“As the top scorer in the Eredivisie, it’s time to take off. We are convinced that the football world will hear a lot more about Vangelis in the coming years. We are proud of his progress and the steps he takes every day.
“We wish him every success and will continue to support him with great pleasure.”
While strikers taken out of the Eredivisie tend to be either big successes or high-profile failures, you can say similar of centre-forwards wearing the Benfica shirt.
Like the aforementioned West Ham – see Sebastian Haller and Gianluca Scamacca for two recent examples – Benfica’s track record in the number nine market leaves a lot to be desired.
Raul Jimenez never got going in Lisbon. Neither did Raul de Tomas, Roman Yaremchuk, Luca Waldschmidt or last summer’s big signing Arthur Cabral. The former Fiorentina hitman netted only six times in 28 Primeira Liga matches.
Benfica will be hoping, then, that Pavlidis is a relatively rare success in the Darwin Nunez mould.
Crystal Palace may not need a striker after all
“I would like to thank the club and my team-mates very much for the opportunity to make lifelong memories and the chance to play at the European level,” the former Willem II man said on the AZ Alkmaar website.
“I am also grateful to the supporters who have shown me real love. They gave me goosebumps every time they shouted my name in the stadium.
“And of course a word of thanks to Max and the staff, who helped me in the past three years to become a better person and a better player. In all respects, the choice to go to AZ three years ago was an excellent choice.”
West Ham are expected to remain in the market for a centre-forward. Whether Fulham or Crystal Palace join them, however, only time will tell. The need for a new number nine at Craven Cottage or Selhurst Park has maybe diminished following superb runs of form at the back end of last season from Rodrigo Muniz and Jean-Philippe Mateta.
HITC have been told that Eddie Nketiah is on the radar of the London trip. But Arsenal’s reported £50 million asking price may bring an end to that interest.
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