Mumbai City FC have officially announced the signing of Dutch midfielder Yoëll van Nieff on a two-year-deal.
Nieff featured in the Netherlands for the most of his career before moving to Hungary in 2019 to sign with Puskás Akadémia FC. He began his career at FC Groningen, and was with the club till 2018, before he signed with Heracles Almelo. In fourteen years at his boyhood club, Yoëll van Nieff was a regular for their youth teams and went on to feature in 92 games for the senior team. He also spent two seasons in between on loan to FC Dordrecht and Excelsior in the Dutch league itself.
The 30-year-old featured in 16 games in the Eredivisie and the Dutch Reserves League while playing for Heracles before transferring to Puskás the following season. Nieff has been with the Hungarian club for the last four years, playing 126 matches and scoring six goals, and providing 12 assists. With the Dutch midfielder, Puskás Akadémia finished third twice and runners-up once in the Nemzeti Bajnokság or the Hungarian league. Nieff has also featured in three Europa League and Europa Conference League qualifiers against Hammarby IF, Inter Turku, RFS, and Vitoria de Guimaraes. His team, however, is yet to qualify in either of those competitions.
Yoëll van Nieff was one of the best midfielders in the Hungarian league last season recording 10.31 long passes/game (2nd highest in the league), 11.15 passes in the final third/game (5th highest in the league), and 2.14 through passes/game (6th highest in the league). His contract with Puskás expired earlier this summer, and Mumbai City FC has taken the opportunity to sign the experienced midfielder for the upcoming ISL season.
Mumbai City in the transfer market
Mumbai City FC lost two of their best players in Ahmed Jahouh and Mourtada Fall this season to Sergio Lobera’s Odisha, and their biggest task in the foreign transfer market was to sign replacements for these players. The Islanders have stood up to the task, signing Tiri on a free from Mohun Bagan for the defence and now Yoëll van Nieff to replace Jahouh in midfield. Apart from these, they have had a quite eventful summer window in the domestic market as well, signing the likes of Akash Mishra, and Vinit Rai on a permanent deal.
They have had some big name departures as well with Rowlin Borges and Amey Ranawade moving on loan to FC Goa and Odisha respectively. Raynier Fernandes, Vignesh Dakshinamurty, and Mandar Rao Desai have also signed for Goa, Hyderabad, and East Bengal respectively. Despite the big name departures, Des Buckingham’s side still looks strong and youthful. It will be surprising if they do not mount a title challenge next season.
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