Maikel Kieftenbeld has signed for Birmingham City from Dutch Eredivisie side FC Groningen, becoming Rowett’s fifth signing this summer.
Maikel Keiftenbeld is highly thought of in the Netherlands and has been labeled as a player on the rise. The past two seasons have seen him become a very important cog in the Groningen team. They were very reluctant to let him go.
The 25 year old joins Birmingham on a 3 and a half year deal, for an undisclosed fee. Although we do know that the fee met his minimum fee release clause and football-oranje are claiming it was around ?250,000 (£176,909).
Kieftenbeld is a very ambitious player and revealed it was the draw of English football that brought him to the club. He does not know much about the club yet, which speaks testament to Rowett and Panos Pavlakis being able to convince him that this is the best place for him.
A product of the FC Twente youth system, he moved to Go Ahead Eagles in a bid for first team football. Two years later, at the age of 20 he moved to FC Groningen and became a very important player for them. Winning the clubs first ever major trophy last season, the KNVB Cup.
It is believed that Kieftenbeld is a defensive midfielder that has a good range of passing. With the ability to set the team off offensively with direct through balls. His pass completion rate for league football last season was 82.7%.
Often arriving late and remaining at long range, we’ll see Kieftenbeld trying his luck from distance. Defensively he is a tackling and blocking midfielder who will certainly compliment David Davis in midfield.
The 25 year old perhaps has gotten his good reputation by putting in top class performances against the better teams in the Netherlands. Memorable performances in a 2-2 draw against FC Twente and a strong 90 minutes in the KNVB 3-0 cup final win over Excelsior have etched him into Groningen history.
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