Rojas concludes move to Holland
MARCO Rojas is hoping his second European stint will be better than his first.
The All Whites midfielder has been officially unveiled by SC Heerenveen, who play in the Dutch Eredivisie, and has signed a two-year contract, with an option for one more.
He was previously with German club Stuttgart from 2013 to 2016, but never made a first team appearance, and spent most of that time out on loan, before returning to Melbourne Victory for the 2016-17 A-League season.
The 25-year-old said he had still gained plenty from his first stint in the northern hemisphere.
‘‘It was difficult to adjust, but I learnt a lot about myself as a player and a person,’’ Rojas said.
‘‘I hope I’m a lot different to what I was back then.
‘‘Obviously I decided to go back because it wasn’t working out, I didn’t have many good options in Europe, and I decided if I went back and had a good couple of seasons [in the A-League], then maybe something would pop up.’’
After playing a starring role with the Victory, who lost the A-League grand final to Sydney FC on penalties, Rojas was one of the All Whites’ better players at the Confederations Cup in Russia in June, and he now the opportunity he was looking for.
‘‘Every player wants to be in Europe,’’ he said. ‘‘That’s where all the top players go, and coming from Australia, it’s a long way away, but it’s something that we’d all like to do.
‘‘Heerenveen started keeping an eye on me, and then we started talking and it just went from there.’’
Rojas will be the second Kiwi on the books of an Eredivisie club, joining fellow Waikato product Ryan Thomas, who recently extended his contract with PEC Zwolle.
Heerenveen finished ninth in the 2016-17 Eredivisie, and their new season starts on August 13, against FC Groningen.
Before heading to Stuttgart in 2013, Rojas won the Johnny Warren Medal as the A-League’s best player while at the Victory, who he joined in 2011 after two years at the Wellington Phoenix.