Orkun Kokcu to Arsenal: Gunners would be signing 'one of Holland's best midfielders', says Jaap Stam

Tom Doyle3 May 2020

Orkun Kokcu has been backed to make the grade at Arsenal by former Manchester United star Jaap Stam.

Kokcu, 19, has been linked with a move away from Feyenoord after impressing in his breakthrough season in the Eredivisie.

The playmaker - who represented Netherlands up to under-19 level before switching to Turkey at U21 level - scored three goals and set up another six before the Dutch season was called off.

Those performance earned Kokcu admirers across Europe, with Feyenoord boss Dick Advocaat announcing in March that Arsenal were among the interested parties.

Kokcu has three years left on his contract, and would cost around £20-25million - but with the financial insecurity facing clubs, he may well be available for a lower price.

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Former Feyenood boss Stam knows a thing or two about switching the Netherlands for England: he made the step up from PSV Eindhoven to Man United in 1998, winning three Premier League titles along with the treble at Old Trafford before falling out with Sir Alex Ferguson and being sold to Lazio in 2001.

Having managed Kokcu while at Feyenoord, the ex-United centre-back believes the youngster has the talent to handle the Premier League.

"He would need to adjust because the step to Arsenal and the Premier League is totally different when you compare it to Holland," Stam told Goal.

"The pace of the game, the quality, the intensity is a lot higher.

"But he has the ability. He is a player who has the personality to want to improve, he always wants to do better.

"He’s never happy with himself, he’s disappointed if he doesn’t score, or his passes aren’t good enough.

"When I joined Feyenoord, he hadn’t played a lot because everyone said he was too young.

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"I put him in the first team and let him play most of the games, I trusted him and saw a lot of ability in him.

"Now he’s proving himself in Holland and is one of the best midfield players in the country.

"He’s certainly got the ability to make that step to the Premier League."

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