Royston Drenthe: blessing or a curse for Benfica? – Portuguese Primeira Liga Special
The Fabio Coentrao transfer saga has been one of the longest this summer. His suitors http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Real-c30728 Madrid have been snapping at Benfica’s heels to let their coveted wingback leave, but the Portuguese outfit have stonewalled the deal for as long as they can.
But Florentino Perez has flexed his financial muscle and has tabled a €15 million plus the services of http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Royston-Drenthe-c31824. A tempting offer for the Reds, who are fighting a lost battle, as Coentrao has publicly stated that he wants to move to Madrid. But as
they concentrate on the money offered, they must also analyze the prospect of the Dutchman Drenthe playing at Estadio da Luz next season.
One of football fastest players, Drenthe, started his career with the http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/U-17-Youth-team-c40787 of Eredivisie giants Feyenoord but he was not deemed skilled enough for their academy and was subsequently offload to SBV Excelsior.
Although he was primarily a wide midfielder, he started playing as a full-back upon joining Excelsior and took to his new position immediately. In his two-year stint at the helm, he gave enough impressive performances to earn a transfer back to the Feijenoord
Stadion.
His return marked his rise at the club and he quickly progressed through the ranks to become involved with the first team setup in 2005. Shortly after this he made his senior debut against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Vitesse-c40905 in the 2005/06 season.
The 24-year-old made his breakthrough the next season and ended the campaign by becoming first choice, while taking to the pitch 28 times for De club van Zuid.
The versatile winger was then capped by the Dutch U-21 national team in the European Championships. His performances were a revelation for the Oranje, as he fired them to victory in the tournament and hauled the UEFA Player’s of the Tournament award to boost
his name in European football.
His display with the national team did not go unnoticed on the continent and a number of clubs were rumoured to be interested in obtaining the youngster. But ultimately Real Madrid won the battle for his signature after coughing up €14 million to entice
lure him from http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Feyenoord-c39258.
If his career had gone along the same lines as his first season with Los Merengues, we would be talking about Drenthe, in the same breath as Dutch legends http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Ruud-van-Nistelrooy-c31966 and so on. But sadly it did not, and we only saw flashes of his brilliance
like his 40-yard belter against Sevilla in the maiden season. The rest of his time at the Bernabeu become increasingly frustrating for the former Neptunus man.
After a stellar first season, Drenthe was confined to the bench, mainly due to the emergence of Brazilian prodigy http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Marcelo-c23554, who usurped his berth in on the left. His third season with Los Blancos was even paltrier, as it saw him make only 11 appearances,
while scoring a goal and assisting one.
With playing time becoming a desirable commodity, Drenthe singed for Hercules on a season-long loan. At the Alicante outfit he resurrected his career somewhat, playing 16 times and bagging 4 goals.
While his feats on the pitch have hardly been noteworthy, his antics off the field have made the headlines for all the wrong reasons. The player started a protest over ‘unpaid wages’ and refused to train with the club in early 2011. And it was only after
negotiating with manager, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Netherlands-c753 International took to the training pitch with his teammates once again.
Although Drenthe has been reckless with his actions, he still possesses great talent and can be of immense value to Benfica if they utilize his abilities to the brim to make most of the transfer.
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