Memphis Depay was one of several World Cup players on the move, signing for Atletico Madrid. Photo: Musi0/depositphotos
PSV were the busiest Eredivisie club on transfer deadline day as Dutch teams concluded a total of 48 deals in the 24 hours before the window closed at midnight.
The Eindhoven club has money to spend after selling World Cup star Cody Gakpo to Liverpool for around €50 million at the start of the month and English winger Noni Madueke to Chelsea for a reported €33 million.
However, it restricted itself to loan deals for Belgian international midfielder Thorgan Hazard, who is moving from Borussia Dortmund, and Dutch international Patrick van Aanholt from Turkish side Galatasaray.
Van Aanholt is seen as a direct replacement for German left-back Phillip Max, who is being loaned out to Eintracht Frankfurt until the end of the season.
PSV also offloaded 30-year-old midfielder Marco van Ginkel to Vitesse Arnhem, where he will be joined by former Netherlands international Davy Pröpper. The midfielder had announced his retirement from professional football at the start of January, but was persuaded to sign an 18-month contract by Vitesse trainer Phillip Cocu.
The club also raised eyebrows with a transfer that didn’t go through when they rejected a €15 million bid from Paris Saint-Germain for 19-year-old Belgian striker Johan Bakayoko. PSV said they needed cover up front following the departure of Gakpo and Madueke.
Feyenoord miss out
Elsewhere, Feyenoord failed to secure the signing of Thomas van de Belt from PEC Zwolle, but the 21-year-old midfielder said he was hopeful of moving to Rotterdam in the summer.
The league leaders also missed out on the signature of Sparta’s 22-year-old midfielder Sven Mijnans as the player opted to move to AZ Alkmaar on a five and a half year contract.
A total of 167 transfers were registered with the KNVB during January, including 53 moves between Dutch clubs. Fifty players arrived from foreign clubs while 64 footballers left the Netherlands for other professional leagues. The last transfer of the month was the signing of Vicente Besuijen, who arrives on loan at Excelsior from Aberdeen.
Other Dutch World Cup players to secure a move in January were Daley Blind, who left Ajax on a free transfer to Bayern Munich, Wout Weghorst, who joined Erik ten Hag at Manchester United from Turkish club Besiktas, and Memphis Depay, who moved from Barcelona to Atletico Madrid for a reported €3 million.
But Hakim Ziyech, the 29-year-old former Ajax midfielder and one of the stars of the Moroccan team that reached the semi-finals, had his hopes of a loan move from Chelsea to Paris Saint-Germain scuppered after the London club failed to submit the paperwork in time.