Well-known former Ajax player (26) looks a bargain opportunity for NEC: 'He is now a free agent'
Mike Verweij believes NEC would be wise to move for Mitchel Bakker. The De Telegraaf club watcher has named the free-agent wing-back as a possible reinforcement after the Nijmegen side's painful 5-0 defeat away at Juventus.
Thursday night in Turin turned into a miserable one for NEC. Dick Schreuder's side once again tried to play with courage and press high up the pitch, but they left huge spaces at the back and trailed 3-0 by half-time.
On the left side of defence, the problems are especially severe right now. Almugera Kabar has come under heavy fire after his display against Juventus, while Deveron Fonville and Ahmetcan Kaplan are injured.
After the match, Schreuder complained about his lack of options in that position. “Why do I keep picking Kabar? Because I have nothing else,” the manager said bluntly. “The lad is only just new and he will have to play. Kabar is finding it difficult. We can all see that.”
That is why Verweij believes NEC should look at Bakker. “You do not have to write Kabar off completely,” he says in Kick-off of De Telegraaf. “I think he is 20 and he is playing on a stage like this for the first time, also in a system that is very new to him. But it has to get much better and, in that respect, I have a tip for NEC: Mitchel Bakker.”
Bakker has been a free agent since the start of September after his contract with Atalanta was terminated by mutual consent. “He had his contract terminated,” Verweij continues. “If you can pick him up for free, that could be interesting, because otherwise it could still become very unpleasant in the league as well.”
The 26-year-old had been under contract at Atalanta since 2023, when the club signed him from Bayer Leverkusen. In the 2024/25 season he was loaned to Lille, where he scored four times and provided three assists in 35 matches, while last season he played just one game for Atalanta due to injury problems.
Valentijn Driessen can see the logic in Verweij's suggestion too. “Bakker has had some pretty good spells, that would simply be interesting,” said the football editor-in-chief.
