SINGAPORE: The Lion City Sailors (LCS) on Monday (Feb 26) announced the signing of Dutch midfielder Bart Ramselaar ahead of the 2024-25 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season.

Ramselaar joined the club from the Dutch Eredivisie side FC Utrecht for a reported fee of €1.5 million (S$2.2 million), with his contract to run until the end of the 2025-26 campaign.

Here is what you need to know about the Sailors’ latest recruit and what his signing could mean for the club and the SPL as a whole.

WHAT SORT OF PLAYER IS HE?

In a media release announcing his signing, the club called 27-year-old Ramselaar a “technically supreme midfield playmaker”.

He will “provide the attacking zest to complement the defensive solidarity brought to the side by Toni Datkovic, the club’s first signing of the off-season”, the Sailors said.

“Bart promises to bring a new dimension to the team’s attacking third as he looks to form a dynamic partnership with fellow PSV Eindhoven alumni Maxime Lestienne,” the club added.

Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic, a former assistant coach at Utrecht, worked with Ramselaar during the 2022-23 Eredivisie season. He said that the footballer’s “speed and intelligent link-up play in the final third” make him a “fantastic addition” to the Sailors’ squad.

“I’m already looking forward to seeing how he can complement the likes of Maxime Lestienne, Shawal Anuar and Richairo Zivkovic to give us an even better attacking threat,” he said in a statement.

In an article on the Sailors’ website, the club described Ramselaar as a player who “prides himself on being a consummate professional” and “comes across as a genuine character who has the absolute respect for his new club and league he will play in”.

“I know there are high standards set at the Lion City Sailors – we want to win league titles, and there are ambitions to become one of the top clubs in the region, so that’s why I’m very excited to be here,” Ramselaar said in the article.

WHERE HAS HE PLAYED?

Before signing for the Sailors, Ramselaar played for FC Utrecht in the Eredivisie, the Netherlands’ top flight.

It was also at Utrecht that he got his start, joining the club’s youth system in 2010 and making his professional debut there in 2015.

In 2016, he moved to PSV Eindhoven, winning the 2017-18 Eredivisie title and playing in the UEFA Champions League with the club.

He also made three appearances for the Dutch national team between 2016 and 2017, starting for them in a 3-1 World Cup qualifying win over Luxembourg in November 2016 alongside the likes of Virgil van Dijk, Wesley Sneijder, Georginio Wijnaldum and Arjen Robben.

Ramselaar returned to FC Utrecht in 2019 and made 11 appearances in the current Eredivisie season – scoring in his side’s 2-0 victory over Go Ahead Eagles in December – before moving to Singapore to join the Sailors.

WHAT BROUGHT HIM TO SINGAPORE AND WHAT ARE HIS GOALS HERE?

In the article on the Sailors’ website, Ramselaar said that he decided to leave his homeland after “a critical moment of self-reflection last year”.

“I’m becoming too comfortable (in the Netherlands), and this stagnation won’t benefit my career,” he said.

“After almost 10 years in my country, I think it was time for me to get out of my comfort zone and try something new,” he added.

In his statement following his signing, he said that it was “always one of (his) targets to prove (himself) in a foreign league one day”.

“I’m really intrigued by this new challenge in Singapore with the Sailors. The club is building a great project here with a clear direction from the academy up to the first team. This is something that I very much want to be part of,” he said.

“I’m here to help the team with my experience and hopefully play some nice football that can get more fans into the stadium. The goal is clear – I want to be (an) SPL champion here and help the team qualify for the knockout stages of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League 2.”

The Sailors have won one SPL title and finished runners-up last season behind Albirex Niigata.

The Champions League 2, or ACL2, is Asia’s new second-tier club competition. Its first edition will kick off later this year.

WHAT CAN HE BRING TO THE LION CITY SAILORS?

Former footballer turned pundit Rhysh Roshan Rai said Ramselaar appears to be a replacement for Diego Lopes – Singapore’s first multimillion-dollar football signing – who left the club at the end of last year.

“Ramselaar can be that link man in attacking midfield who creates chances and scores goals from those areas,” he told CNA.

He added that Ramselaar’s individual quality can be expected to “really shine at the SPL level and he should be one of the league’s best players”.

“The prospect of him linking up with Lestienne and Zivkovic is a delightful one and should give (Sailors) fans and neutrals a lot of excitement through the course of the season,” Roshan said.

“Also, at 27, Ramselaar is coming into this league at a fantastic age. LCS have done well with players like him and Zivkovic in terms of their age profile. They have so much more to give in their careers and those precious years will be at LCS.

“They haven’t signed players who might be perceived as coming here for one last paycheck.”

The Sailors also drew attention to his age in announcing his signing, with the club’s sporting director Badri Ghent saying “he still has many good years ahead of him”.

“We hope that this will be the start of a long and fruitful stint with the Sailors,” he added.

WHAT DOES HIS SIGNING MEAN FOR THE CLUB AND THE SPL?

Roshan described Ramselaar’s signing as “a boost for the club, its fans and the league”.

Coming just over a year after several players and backroom staff members left the Sailors amid a period of financial turmoil for the club’s owner Sea, the signing also quashes concerns about the club’s future, he said.

“I’m sure there was some concern about the financial situation at the club when it was first reported. There was some doubt about the viability of the LCS project; whether we would see an abrupt end to it and that there would be no more star names coming through,” he said.

“The signing of Bart Ramselaar certainly helps put those concerns to bed, but it’s not just him. They also brought in Zivkovic and Bailey Wright. Two big names for Singapore football. Extending the contract of Lestienne was also key.”

Roshan added that Ramselaar's arrival shows that the club is “as serious as ever about becoming successful and continuing their project”.

“It could be said that they’ve been a little disappointing in terms of their lack of league success with regard to titles won. That has to change and it looks like they are moving in that direction,” he said.

“There’s always an expectation that LCS have to be winning everything domestically and it’s fair to expect that with the quality and resources they have. They’ve shown an appetite to bring in the big names and they now need to produce on the pitch and start winning league titles.”

While reclaiming the SPL crown will be a priority, Roshan said that the Sailors have their sights set on success beyond Singapore.

“They want to achieve on the bigger stage as well, and the investments they have put in aren’t just to try and win locally but also to give themselves a chance to be competitive on the continental stage,” he said.

“They have ambitions of becoming a force in Asian football and are taking the steps to try and achieve that goal. There have been encouraging signs in their last two Champions League campaigns and they will be looking to keep up that progress in the ACL2 competition coming up.”

Roshan said that big signings like Ramselaar’s also bring an “uptick in quality” and “more excitement” to the SPL as a whole.

“I’m sure fans would like to see some more of the other clubs also bringing in players of this calibre, but the reality is that, right now, only LCS can afford this level of player,” he said.

“Nevertheless, we have seen other clubs increase their level when playing against LCS, and as results have shown, the Sailors haven’t always found it easy in the league even with all their talent.

“That does help keep things exciting and helps raise the level of competition.”