Former Norwich and Bologna striker joins PEC Zwolle on loan | OneFootball

PEC Zwolle have announced the signing of former Norwich and Bologna striker Sydney van Hooijdonk on loan until the end of the season. The 26-year-old striker has returned to the Eredivisie from Portuguese football, where he had been playing for Estrela Amadora. PEC Zwolle have agreed a purchase option with the Portuguese club for the former Norwich man.

Van Hooijdonk began his career with NAC Breda, where he scored 23 goals in 70 games and earned a move to Serie A with Bologna. However, he never quite made the grade in Italian football, with loan spells out of the club for most of his time there. Between January 2022 and June 2023 he joined SC Heerenveen on loan and scored 26 goals in 54 games. He was given another chance back in Bologna but only managed one goal in 11 appearances. Norwich then brought him to England on loan, but things didn’t go well there either. In just half a season for Norwich the striker failed to score in 12 games.

Van Hooijdonk then left Bologna after returning form Norwich and joined Cesena on a free transfer, yet his time there was brief, and after 15 appearances and no goals he was released to return to Dutch football and NAC Breda. In 12 months with the club, van Hooijdonk scored six goals in 36 games before leaving for his current side last January, where he has played 12 times and scored once.

Van Hooijdonk is still only 26 despite having played for a wide variety of clubs, and PEC Zwolle will hope that he can rediscover the form he had shown during his early career.

GBeNeFN | Ben Jackson