Feyenoord Board Criticized for Transfer Window Failures

The knives were out in De Telegraaf’s Kick-Off podcast on Monday. Target: Feyenoord’s leadership. Accusers: Mike Verweij and Valentijn Driessen.

Their message was blunt. In their eyes, technical director Dévy Rigaux and general director Robert Eenhoorn mishandled a transfer window that could have transformed Feyenoord’s finances.

‘They had the money – and the offers’

“Rigaux has taken a huge swipe at his predecessor Te Kloese,” Verweij began as the conversation turned to Rotterdam. “But now it turns out that Te Kloese, with the money for Hadj Moussa included, had 40 million.”

Then he laid out the numbers that, in his view, change everything.

“There was a bid of 25 million for Ueda, who was sold far too cheaply to Lille OSC. And Read could almost have risen to 35 million. And Hull City bid 20 million for Targhalline.”

According to Verweij, Feyenoord sat on a goldmine and failed to cash in.

“If they had simply done their job and sold the right players, Feyenoord would for the time being have had a great deal of financial resources,” he continued. “That same Te Kloese put together a squad there that was worth around €120 million. So I think Rigaux and Eenhoorn did something wrong in this transfer window. If they had sold Read immediately, they could have been much more effective in the transfer market.”

Friends of Feyenoord back in the spotlight

Driessen did not let the moment pass. He immediately widened the lens to the club’s ownership structure.

“It all comes back to the Friends of Feyenoord again,” he said. “They have 49 per cent of the shares. And the moment Feyenoord pay €17.5 million, they lose 25 per cent. And in two years’ time, again.”

The financial construction around the Friends, he argued, directly affects transfer policy.

“Feyenoord are also obliged to buy part of the shares if they post a positive transfer balance in a transfer window. And they certainly would have done that if one of those transfers had gone through. Then that transfer balance would have been so high that they would have been obliged to buy part of the Friends’ purchases.”

In other words: a big profit on sales does not just mean money to reinvest. It also triggers an obligation to buy out part of the Friends’ stake. That, Driessen suggested, is where sporting ambition runs into shareholder interests.

‘Eenhoorn is their man’

Then came the heaviest accusation of the show.

“But the Friends of Feyenoord do not want out,” Driessen claimed. “And Eenhoorn came in at the request of the Friends. He is their favourite, and became director. So he is not going to go against those Friends.”

According to him, that relationship had a direct impact on one of the summer’s most talked-about deals: the failed move of Hadj Moussa to Al-Ittihad.

“Eenhoorn allowed himself to be influenced into not letting the Hadj Moussa transfer go through,” Driessen said of Feyenoord’s technical director.

The official line has pointed at issues around a bank guarantee. Driessen dismissed that explanation.

“For Driessen, a rejected bank guarantee is not the reason Hadj Moussa is not now an Al-Ittihad player. It concerns a €40 million transfer. It concerns Saudi Arabia, just ask Ajax. They have always had the money and are solvent.”

A deal that dragged and died

Driessen then painted a picture of a club that, at a crucial moment, became strangely elusive.

“Feyenoord were also hardly reachable by phone, it was very difficult to get in touch with them,” he said. “It was dragged out for a very long time, and in the end the medical could no longer take place.”

For him, that was no coincidence but a consequence of who really holds sway.

“Robert Eenhoorn is simply an extension of the Friends of Feyenoord. He is their mate. The moment someone puts you forward and you can serve their interests, that happens nine times out of 10. He has previously made it known that he is not exactly eager to buy out the Friends. And then you remain stuck with those Friends.”

A missed €40 million, rejected bids that could have reshaped the squad, and a power bloc that, according to these critics, refuses to loosen its grip. Feyenoord’s next transfer window will not just be about players, but about who truly calls the shots in Rotterdam.