Eredivisie: Next big players to look out for in the Dutch League?

Eredivisie over the year has been producing household names in European football.  Ajax have gradually wrested back their reputation as a European giant with some strong showings in the Champions League. The Dutch side have impressed since Erik Ten Hag arrived at the club and this has helped put the Eredivisie back on the footballing map as a market worth scouting for talent.

Although other teams in the Netherlands have perhaps underachieved in continental competition in recent seasons, there are plenty of players still making the jump from the Eredivisie to the top 5 European leagues. In the summer, 16 players made that jump, the most successful of which was Teun Koopmeiners's to Atalanta where he has become fundamental to their midfield. Denzel Dumfries is also beginning to make the right wing back position his own at Inter after a slow start in Serie A.

We take a look at the potential next four players who should be ready for the step up to a bigger European league from the Eredivise:

Noussair Mazraoui:

It's impossible to ignore Noussair Mazraoui as he is the top-rated right back in Eredivisie and Europe right now and he is available on a free transfer this summer

The Moroccan has scored five goals and made two assists from right back in 1617 Eredivisie minutes, and as you can see from his TransferLab profile above, he stands out, particularly in attacking metrics. For instance, his adjusted pass accuracy ranks in the 100th percentile, whilst he also shows up extremely highly for expected assists, touches in the final third, and for the quality of his crossing. 

Mazraoui is agile, with a tall and slender frame and alongside his excellent ball manipulation, this makes him an accomplished dribbler. He regularly beats players in deep areas and is confident in carrying the ball up the line or in-field. In the final third, he will beat opposing fullbacks when arriving on the overlap or from a standing start and regularly gets into the box to shoot or create chances.

The Morrocan full-back has recently been linked with a move to Barcelona and it's easy to imagine him fitting into Xavi's system with relative ease. 

But turn of events, Mazraoui is now about to join Bayern Munich for 20 million in the summer.

Cody Gakpo:

Dusan Tadic might have broken Lionel Messi's assists record in a single year but the Serbian is 33-years-old now and a player unlikely to be moving on from Ajax. On the other side, Anthony will be highly likely to attract offers from the top European sides but again we won't look at him as he is an Ajax player. 

Meanwhile, Cody Gakpo is ranked second in the position on the left, has been impressing in the division for a few seasons, and at 22, is the perfect age to tempt clubs in top leagues to make a move. 

Gakpo is a creator and a goalscorer, shown by his extremely high rankings for expected goals and expected assists in the Eredivisie. He has a habit of arriving unmarked at the back post to score tap-ins, accounting for his very high xG but as well as that, his powerful running style and quick feet make him a nightmare for defenders to deal with when he drives inside from the wing.

Gakpo has scored eight goals and made twelve assists this season at a rate of 0.52 goals and 0.78 assists per 90 in the Eredivisie this term. These are extremely impressive figures maintained over 1385 minutes and seem to make him a certainty to be snapped up this summer. He would be well-suited to the Bundesliga as his physical profile and ability to create and score from carrying the ball would suit a league that is full of teams who attack through transitions. 

That decision has been vindicated, with a number of top-level clubs – most notably Liverpool's old rivals Manchester United – chasing his signature. But Liverpool appear to have won the race, with PSV announcing that they have accepted a bid.

"The 23-year-old attacker will leave for England imminently, where he will be subjected to the necessary formalities ahead of the completion of the transfer," announced the Dutch giants.

Gakpo has been in sensational form this season, with 13 goals and 14 assists for his club in all competitions.

Liverpool are relatively well-stocked when it comes to their forward options, but they could certainly do with another option. Roberto Firmino is out of contract in the summer and may depart Anfield after eight years of service. Diogo Jota has struggled with injuries and has barely played, while Luis Diaz is sidelined until March.

Orkun Kokcu:

Next on our list is 21-year-old Turkish midfielder Orkun Kökcü. The Feyenoord man has largely operated as a deep-lying playmaker this season in the Eredivisie.

the Turkish footballer impresses most in his on-the-ball actions, particularly his progressive short passing and through balls his strongest attributes. Kökcü looks to move the ball through midfield to players in advanced positions to score and create from. His own output in terms of goal contributions is very impressive though as he has six goals and eight assists in 2019 minutes, equating to 0.27 goals and 0.36 assists per 90, respectively. Given such an impressive output, don't be surprised to see Kökcü linked to several clubs this summer. 

Vangelis Pavlidis:

Finally, a player who is perhaps less likely to get an immediate move but one who is worth keeping an eye on after a couple of impressive seasons is Vangelis Pavlidis.

The Greek striker has less impressive headline figures than somebody like Sebastian Haller, unsurprisingly, but his underlying numbers are very strong in a much weaker team than Ajax. He's scored ten goals for an AZ side that are a long way down on the last few seasons where they pushed Ajax in title races and he impressed in a relegation battle with Willem II last season.

The 23-year-old impresses compared to other strikers in the division for almost every metric with his touches in the box particularly high. In his case, this is the area of the pitch where he does his best work. Although he can run in behind defensive lines and receive the ball back to goal, those are weaker areas in his game. Pavlidis is primarily a fox-in-the-box type striker.

Considering he only moved to AZ last summer, it may be that nobody wants to pay for Pavlidis. Perhaps a team in Ligue 1 or a Serie A team who are in need of a goalscorer might want to take a punt on him, given his knack for popping up in the right place in the penalty area.