There’s been a lot of talk recently about how happy Giovanni van Bronckhorst is with his squad and how much influence he has on recruitment as a whole, the apparent lack of Dutch signings somehow being proof that he doesn’t, according to some.
Rangers fans were disappointed when a number eight and a natural right-winger didn’t arrive during the summer, however, it may be that we were biding our time to move for a former student of Dave Vos’s Ajax academy.
Sontje Hansen has played for the Netherlands at every age group and is now part of Ajax’s Under-21 set up having made two appearances for the senior side. The 20-year old has an excellent record at youth level being a consistent goal scorer and creator of chances, with two goals and three assists in seven appearances so far this season he has continued in this vein.
Hansen is one of a rare breed in that he is a winger who actually prefers to play on the side of his strongest foot rather than cutting inside in a way that Arjen Robben trademarked, and with his contract up at the end of the season, we should be using our inside knowledge to steal a march on potential suitors.
Not only is he ready to make the step up to senior football but he will be available for a relative pittance, ticking a lot of boxes in terms of position, output, age, availability and potential to sell at a profit further down the line.
We’ve been linked with Dutch players in the past and, for all that it bears little meaning, signing a player, and an attacking one at that, from Ajax’s academy, would still be an exciting proposition.