Van Den Berg Rebuilding Career With Excelsior

Released Arsenal winger Vincent van den Berg has agreed to join his former Youth club Excelsior Maassluis in an attempt to finally resurrect his struggling career.

van den Berg’s contract with Arsenal has now expired and the Gunners have made it clear they do not want to extend the Dutchman’s deal. After failing to settle in London, and putting in several dreadful performances for the Reserves, former player Marc Overmars arranged for Vincent to be loaned to the Go Ahead Eagles in his home land.

He only featured a handful of times before injuries ended the loan spell early. He was then farmed out to FC Zwolle last season – but never made a single appearance for their first team or their B side. A mysterious Glandular Fever type illness had struck the starlet which saw him constantly drained of energy and unable to train.

He spent most of this summer with his former youth side Excelsior Maassluis undertaking a high intensity training programme designed to finally get him ready for match action. Olympic trainers were even drafted in to rebuild the former Holland Under 19 International who got a shock break through when Sparta Rotterdam offered him a lifeline in the form of a trial.

He turned out for them during a behind closed doors friendly along with three other hopefuls two weeks ago. Vincent trained twice with the first team and was thrown straight into the starting line up against NEC’s youth team. But his opportunity to impress lasted just 15 minutes. The 20-year-old pulled up and was subbed off with a hamstring injury. It was a bitter blow to his hopes of earning a permanent contract.

But now minnows ‘Excelsior M’ who play in the Dutch amateur League, have snapped him up on a one year contract.  The plan is reported to be to play a full season of matches before looking for a trial with a bigger club. Once more we’d like to wish Vincent all the best for the future.

Article By – J.Sanderson