PSV Eindhoven’s head of youth scouting, Rini de Groot, has revealed that Tottenham Hotspur winger Steven Bergwijn played an important role in helping former Spurs academy star Noni Madueke settle in at the Dutch club.
Madueke was rated very highly while coming through the ranks at Spurs, putting in impressive performances for the club’s Under-16s and Under-18s.
The winger, who came through in the same crop as Troy Parrott and Harvey White, was thought of as a potential future first-team prospect but he rejected Tottenham’s contract offer and decided to join PSV in 2018 to get a clearer pathway into the first-team.
The 19-year-old would be pleased with his decision as he has become an important part of the Dutch side’s first-team this season.
The former Spurs man has shown his quality, notching up 9 goals and 8 assists in all competitions for the Eredivisie side so far this campaign.
Bergwijn spent a year and a half with Madueke at PSV before moving to Spurs in the January of 2019. De Groot explained how the Spurs star made the youngster feel welcome at the club when he arrived.
The PSV youth scout chief told Eindhovens Dagblad (as relayed by Tribal Football): “What still comes to mind is that Steven Bergwijn gave him a shirt that (first) day and you saw that it made a big impression on Noni.
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“Actually, upon that return, it soon became clear that Noni would be playing with us from the summer of 2018.
“In England, not everyone could believe that Noni was going to play for us, but it happened anyway.
“For that reason alone it was a transfer from thousands. After that Noni was very focused within the program and only angry if he missed opportunities himself.
“He is busy with football in everything and his parents have helped him by even coming to live here temporarily. They also came for his career, with his sister attending international school for a while.”
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