Marcel Brands let reported Everton target Danjuma Groeneveld leave PSV in 2016

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Everton are being linked with a move for Club Brugge attacker Arnaut Danjuma Groeneveld. The Daily Mail has suggested that the Dutchman is a target for Everton, along with Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Dutch international has been in fine form in Belgium since joining the club in the summer from NEC Nijmegen.

With Everton believed to be in the hunt for a new winger Groeneveld looks a perfect option. He is currently out with an ankle problem, but scored five goals and assisted four in his opening 15 games of the season with Brugge.

AC Milan had a £9 million bid rejected but his asking price is unlikely to be much higher. So he appears to be a perfect Everton option. But here is where things do get slightly interesting.

Everton’s director of football Marcel Brands knows him. Before making his name at NEC, Groeneveld was on the books at PSV Eindhoven. He joined the club in 2008 from FC Oss and played for the club for eight years. He never featured for the first-team however and left for NEC in 2016.

“(PSV had) a number of boys in front of him (Groeneveld).

“He certainly did not have to leave, but he chose a perspective where he had more certainty to play.”

– Marcel Brands on Danjuma Groeneveld’s PSV exit

Brands even spoke of his departure. The former PSV sporting director, who now holds a similarly prominent role at Everton, is quoted by NRC as stating it was Groeneveld’s decision to leave.

Competition in the PSV youth-team can be harsh and it appears Groeneveld decided it was best he did not stick around. Brands, however, prides himself on spotting young stars and will be disappointed Groeneveld did not develop into a PSV first-team star. 

Brands now has a chance to rectify a rare mistake from his time in Eindhoven. Everton fans will hope the previous relationship between the pair can act as an advantage and not a disadvantage.