Leeroy Echteld makes revelation about Kees Smit: ‘That has troubled him’

Kees Smit has felt the weight of the transfer rumours around him, Leeroy Echteld said on Monday night on Rondo on Ziggo Sport. "He has been affected by it," said the AZ coach.

AZ look to have struck gold with Smit, but that brings a downside too. Almost every top club in Europe has been linked with the 20-year-old midfielder, who is reportedly valued at tens of millions. For now, though, Smit is still playing in Alkmaar, where he is under contract until mid-2028.

Speaking to VI at the end of September, Smit admitted: "At the start of the transfer window I did expect that I would leave. But nothing ever really came of it. I didn’t mind staying at AZ, and I still don’t mind. There is still plenty to improve. And I also simply feel at home here."

On Rondo, Echteld said Smit had genuinely been affected by all the transfer noise and by the involvement of Portuguese super-agent Jorge Mendes, who was expected to seal a record move.

"The future will show whether it was a smart move by AZ to bring him in," said Echteld. "When such big amounts and such big clubs are involved... Maybe they felt they had to bring him in."

"But he (Smit, ed.) has been affected by it. He really has been affected by it. But of course he also created it himself. When you are that good at a young age, you get that attention."

"Apart from that, he is quite a stoical lad," Echteld continued. "You can talk to him well. He is always one for short answers, because then he is done with it. But sometimes I call him in for a moment as well. Just to talk about how things are going, what is expected of him. Not only in attack, but also in defence."