Feyenoord midfielder Jochemsen signs for Utrecht
Friday 29th June 2001
Feyenoord midfielder Arco Jochemsen signed a two-year contract with FC Utrecht on Friday after failing to establish himself at the Rotterdam club. "I will have to work very hard and I'm really looking forward to that," he said.
Jochemsen put pen to paper on a three-year contract at Feyenoord only last year after joining the Rotterdam club from Vitesse, but failed to live up to expectations.
The midfielder failed to score in 23 league appearnaces and only completed the full 90 minutes on eight occasions.
"I gave myself a year to see how I would fare," Jochemsen explained. "I then asked myself at the end of the season whether it would be realistic to presume that I would be considered for a place in the starting line up next year. Well, I didn't think so.
"Subsequently there was contact with Utrecht and I was really happy with that."
Utrecht will hope that the 30-year old player can return to the form he showed at Vitesse, where he was a regular fixture in the side after making his debut in 1994. "They want me to bring the best out of myself," Jochemsen said.
"I hope to land a spot in midfield, but there were no guarantees given and you can't demand them. So I will have to work very hard and I'm really looking forward to that."
Jochemsen has timed his arrival at the Nieuw Galgenwaard Stadium well, as Utrecht will play in the Uefa Cup for the first time in ten years next season.
"That's really nice," he said. "Furthermore, the stadium is being enlarged and everybody knows that Utrecht is a city where football really lives. You also saw that when they qualified for Europe last term.
"These are all things that make it all the more positive," Jochemsen concluded.
Utrecht, meanwhile, also presented Rene Pronk on Friday. The Dordrecht 90 keeper, who was under contract at the first division side until 2002, signed a three-year deal.
Ponk was brought in as reserve keeper behind first-choice Harald Wapenaar. He played at Utrecht during the 1994-95 and 1996-97 seasons, before moving to Spanish outfit Compostela for three years.
Meanwhile, Utrecht are likely to have to do without Mitchell van der Gaag next season. The defender will sign a two-year deal at Maritimo Funchal in Portugal after he has passed a medical and the Dutch club have received a bank guarantee on the transfer.
