In his hands he had a juicy offer from Saudi Arabia, the exotic and wealthy league that seduced André Carrillo (at Al Hilal since 2018), Christian Cueva (Al Fateh since 2021), Christofer Gonzales (recently signed for Al Adalah) and Alex Valera (just arrived at Al Fateh de Cueva). But Marcos decided no, that the best option was the Netherlands as a brief stop to push himself to fulfill his greatest dream: playing in the Premier League, as he confessed in an interview for ESPN.
Feyenoord, his new club, has just sold three players to England. The Colombian Luis Sinisterra he went to Leeds United for 25 million euros, according to data from Transfermarkt; Bournemouth paid 15 million for the Argentine Marcos Senesi, the side that left space for López; and the Manchester United he paid another 15 million for the Dutchman Tyrell Malacia.
Ajax, another great from the Netherlands, took out 57 million for the pass of Lisandro Martinez al Manchester United. The Argentine arrived in 2019 from Defense and Justice to replace Matthijs de Ligt for just seven million. That is, a profit of approximately 50 million. That’s not counting the other players he sold to different top-level European leagues.
“He is a player who has a lot to grow. If he continues to play at this level in the club and in his national team, he will surely have the opportunity to be seen by other major leagues in the world ”, had advanced in an interview with Depor in January of this year, Bruno Costa, director of Scouting of San José. Bruno saw Marcos for the first time in 2017, in a South American Sub 20, when the winger was 18 years old and showed his qualities. Since then he never stopped following him until the club managed to sign him in 2019.
“I think there are two markets that are used as a springboard by Latin American soccer players: Portugal and the Netherlands”analyzed for DT El Comercio Adrián Cabrejo, founder of the remembered page “Criollo Ambassadors”, dedicated to following up on Peruvians abroad until recently. “In the case of López, I think it has served him a lot to be in a league that is also seen as a springboard for Europe like Major League Soccer”, Add. The MLS stopped being just a tournament that attracts cracks in the twilight of their careers to also become an export machine: in the previous transfer market, they sold 33 soccer players to the Old Continent. Marcos is one more on the list now.
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What does the Eredivisie have to be the first step to Europe?
In the mid-1990s, PSV Eindhoven, still dazzled by what Romario did between 1988 and 1993, signed an 18-year-old Brazilian star who had scored 12 goals in 14 games in his first year as a professional at Cruzeiro. his name was Ronaldo Nazario. In 2004, Jefferson Farfan He was in charge of opening the doors of the Eredivisie to Peruvian soccer players when he chose PSV as the first European destination. In 2007, Luis Suarezthe great Uruguayan goalscorer, began his journey full of celebrations through the Old Continent -before returning to Nacional de Uruguay- at Ajax.
Three clear examples that the first division of the Netherlands was a springboard to launch the career of cracks to the elite. In fact, the Renato Tapia himself He came to the Eredivisie in 2013 when he signed for Twente, and since 2020 he has been playing for Celta de Vigo in LaLiga Spain, considered the second best league for UEFA, behind the English Premier League. That is the path that Marcos López must follow.
But what makes the Eredivisie a kind of paradise for footballers from this part of the world? The first is the zero restriction for non-EU citizens. In other words, clubs can sign players born outside the countries that make up the European Union, something that does not happen in the big leagues. The Premier allows six “foreigners” and LaLiga just three, for example.
“For a South American player it is important to have a community passport. People do not know that there are very few leagues where there is no quota limit for non-EU players. They are very few and they are not as competitive as the English, Spanish or German companies”Tapia said in an interview. As this medium was able to learn, the midfielder was processing his papers to have Dutch nationality, but when he arrived in Spain his process was cut short, so today he is a “foreigner” at Celta.
Another factor in the Dutch league that favors footballers is its internal competition. “It is played like with 4-3-3″, Adrián Cabrejo tells us. In the Netherlands, football is dynamic, fast, so it is an adaptation for the big fields. “López is a footballer who works perfectly in that system. He can play as a winger or a winger. He has speed, athletic ability, a fitness that can be improved in Europe”Add.
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Characterized by buying players with projection, the Eredivisie in recent years has bought Latin American players who are 23 years old on average. For the start of the 2016-17 season, Ajax paid 12 million euros to Atlético Nacional for Davinson Sanchez, center of 20 years. A campaign later he sold it for 42 million to Tottenham. same process happened Lisandro Martinezwho arrived at the age of 21 and left for United at 23.
PSV also did the same with the Mexican Hirving Lozanowho was recruited from Pachuca at the age of 21 and for a cost of 10 million euros, and sold to Napoli at 24 for 45 million. Similarly, the Colombian Santiago Ariaswho arrived at the age of 21 from Sporting Club de Portugal for close to one million and was signed by Atlético from Madrid in 2018 for eleven million.
The case of Feyenoord, with the games of sinisterra y year to the Premier League, it also goes there. In fact, the departure of Senesi leaves the space for Marcos López to start from the first minute to be considered as a starter.
Other Peruvians in the Netherlands
Mark Lopez He will not be the only Peruvian in the Eredivisie. In fact, Emmen FC have three compatriots in their ranks: Miguel Araujo, Fernando Pacheco and Gonzalo Sanchez; and in past seasons they were Sergio Peña (today in Malmö from Sweden), Didier La Torre (NK Osijek II from Croatia) and Jean Pierre Rhyner (Schaffhausen from Switzerland). All of them -with the exception of Rhyner- have something in common: they are represented by the Peruvian agency “AGREF”.
Although AGREF maintains an excellent relationship with clubs such as Feyenoord and Willem II, it is with FC Emmen that it has best been able to strengthen its ties in the Dutch nation. The arrival of Peña, in August 2019, and the signing of Araujo two months later, have been fundamental for this.
“We started this relationship with Emmen, which has been growing every year. From there we have already made a more formal agreement with the club to be, in a certain way, their sports advisors from here in Peru “Carlos Gonzales points out.
This is how a very important bridge has been built between Emmen and the Peruvian players. It has been transcendental that the footballers who arrived at that club have not only had good sporting performances, but also at an extra-sports and disciplinary level. As a result, confidence – a basic virtue in this success – has progressively intensified.
In fact, Jean Pierre Rhyner was the only Peruvian player to arrive at Emmen without being represented by AGREF. But, in any case, the influence of this agency was key for his signing to take place in January 2021, since the directors of the Dutch club asked for references about the defender.
“There has been a relationship of total trust. They have found, and we too in them, some important strategic partners with honest, transparent and correct people, that in South America -in the world of football- sometimes it is not so easy to find. We have both felt august and that has made the project that began four years ago take hold”Gonzales adds.
Peru will have four representatives in the first division of the Netherlands. It is the European league that hosts the most compatriots. Excellent news considering that they are in a highly competitive tournament and are one step away from the elite.