General manager Wilco van Schaik and director of player affairs Carlos Aalbers look back on their calendar year every year on the NEC club channels. 2025 was a successful year for the Nijmegen club, which celebrated its 125th anniversary and enters the winter break as number four in the VriendenLoterij Eredivisie.
These good performances have not gone unnoticed. Players such as Kodai Sano, Sami Ouaissa, Koki Ogawa and Kento Shiogai are interested by several clubs. Yet Aalbers thinks that NEC fans do not have to worry this winter. “In principle not. We have our sporting ambitions. We are now where we are and we are fully committed to finishing as high as possible. That is the most important thing at the moment. But you never know what will really happen in the market. If an offer comes somewhere that we cannot refuse for the long term of this club, then we will consider it. That is not our first priority.”
Aalbers already found a solution for Argyris Darelas and also seems to want to cooperate in the departure of other players on the bench. Vito van Crooij, Rober González and Thomas Ouwejan seem to be the main candidates. “It is more that we will look at this transfer window to see where we can find solutions. We have quite a large selection. Darelas has been loaned to FC Dordrecht. There will also be some minor changes in the selection. We are trying to look ahead to the summer. We are looking at whether we can add a talented player to the selection, who can adapt and play minutes in the coming period. So that he is ready this summer.”
More often ten million plus
The player affairs director has had a good year. Never before has NEC raised as much money as last summer, partly due to the record transfer of Robin Roefs to Sunderland. “The flow of a first selection is increasing. That is a permanent trend in the football market. You can count on ten new boys coming in and ten players leaving every year. That pace is much higher than in the past. This means that you have to be able to anticipate this more quickly,” says Aalbers.
The fact that NEC players are becoming more valuable is another trend in the current transfer market. NEC will therefore ask the top prize for its players more often. “Another trend is that transfer values continue to rise. If you see the amounts for which we can sell players next summer, it is impossible to work against that. That is super important for the short term of this club, but certainly also for the long term of this club. Transfer fees of ten million will not be the last time. That lays a great foundation for this club. It takes time and energy to bring in these players at the right time – because it is a lot about timing.”
Van Schaik enjoys the optimism in the city and around Nijmegen. “I was in the gym this morning. It’s only about NEC. You can’t take a step in the city without people being proud and laughing. There are people who say they have been a supporter of NEC for ten years, but have never experienced this. I hear so many stories like that. That makes me happy. When you see how we were last year and what we have done together now, that makes me proud. I enjoy walking through the city and seeing the people so happy.”
Third place?
Van Schaik also receives a lot of compliments outside Nijmegen. Including about the club’s attacking game. “We also often hear in the boardroom at away games: ‘This was the best game of the season so far.’ That says something about how we play. I find it remarkable that we achieve so much with it in the Netherlands. This means that it is very rarely done this way. You can also question that. Because when you see what it does to our supporters, ourselves and players. Then you could almost say that this is the Dutch school and that it should come back soon. The audience is on the benches. It’s entertainment and experience.”
Dick Schreuder’s attacking style of play yields a lot. NEC has never been so high in terms of points and place in the winter break. NEC has not lost a match since November 2. Aalbers knows this all too well, because that day he said: “Grandpa. That is the same day. We have not lost since Utrecht. So my granddaughter is still undefeated.”
Van Schaik hopes that his team can maintain that undefeated status. Then beautiful things could happen this season. “This is a good group. Sometimes you have a group like that in football. If we can muster this energy every week, I have yet to see. We have made it difficult for everyone. So why not in the second half of the season? That does not mean that we should adjust the ambition to finish third. But why not? We have to go for it. Just let things go on January 9.”
