Luuk de Jong? We’d have loved to keep him

In partnership with

Portal dos Dragões

·4 September 2025

Luuk de Jong? We’d have loved to keep him

FC Porto's impactful signing for the upcoming season – also due to the secrecy surrounding the entire process and the surprise presentation at Estádio do Dragão – Luuk de Jong left a mark at his previous club, PSV Eindhoven.

Quoted by Voetbal International and the channel NOS, Earnest Stewart, the technical director of the Dutch club, discussed the departure of the striker to FC Porto, praising the player's attitude. "There was always a relationship of great respect between our club and Luuk, which extended to the open-minded conversations we had. We made it clear that as soon as we had another forward, we would call him," the director began to explain.

Video OneFootball

"We ended up deciding to sign Alassane Pléa, but we always kept in touch. We would have liked to keep Luuk. Without him, we lose attributes that we have to replace. On the other hand, it creates some space for other players to grow," Stewart continued.

And he concluded: "He wanted to experience a new international adventure and we wanted to keep him. We talked about it, always with a lot of respect on both sides. We kept each other informed about all developments," praised the PSV director.

De Jong scored 74 goals in 134 official matches for the Eindhoven club over the past three seasons. With FC Porto, he has already participated in four games and was decisive in paving the way for the Dragons' victory at Alvalade last Saturday, by 2-1.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.