Van Dijk and de Vries sold Hearts to me
SAYS GENERO ZEEFUIK
NEW Hearts striker Genero Zeefuik has revealed he was sold on a move to Tynecastle by Virgil van Dijk and Mark de Vries. The former Holland Under-21 i nternational has j oined the runaway Championship leaders on a six-month loan deal from Groningen and could make his debut a t Dumbarton t hi s afternoon.
After learning of Hearts’ interest, Zeefuik i mmediately sounded out Celtic defender and former international team-mate van Dijk, as well as fellow Dutchman de Vries, who famously scored four goals for the Gorgie side against Hibs in 2002.
The 24-year- old, who was once part of the renowned Ajax youth system, also knows Hearts trio Alim Ozturk, Soufian El Hassnaoui and Prince Buaben from his time playing in Holland.
Zeefuik said: ‘Is poke to Soufian on the phone when I heard about Hearts’ interest and I spoke to Mark de Vries.
‘Mark said it’s a very good club with good fans. He said “if you can go, then you should go”. I hope I can make a similar impact to what he did.
‘I also called up Virgil a few days ago and he said Hearts were a good club with a big stadium and if I can go, I must go.
‘I know Alim and Soufian from Holland and the people around the club have been very good to me.
‘I also know Prince Buaben. He l i ved two blocks f rom me in Amsterdam when he was at Ajax.’
Zeefuik has al r eady been swamped by Hearts fans on social media and is looking forward to showing them what he can do.
‘When I signed, a lot of fans followed me on Facebook and welcomed me to Hearts and said they want to see me play at Tynecastle.
‘I hope to play a lot of games and score a lot of goals here. I want to have a good season.
‘It has been a difficult campaign so far as I have not played at Groningen for the past half-year.’
From keeping tabs on highly-rated Celtic centre-half van Dijk, Zeefuik reckons the game in Scotland is more physical than what he is used to.
But t he stocky 5ft 11in marksman insisted he i s not intimidated by what awaits him.
Speaking to Hearts TV, he added: ‘Sometimes I look at Virgil and I see that a lot of defenders are big and strong.
‘In the Dutch league, the football is different but in Scotland you can see t hat t here are big defenders.
‘But I’m a big man, as you can see. My qualities are that I can hold the ball up and let players come to me. I can score goals — that’s me.’
Dumbarton’s home patch and Easter Road ar e t he only Championship away venues where Hearts have failed to register a victory this term.
And following a laudable draw at t he Bet Butler Stadium in September, Sons boss Ian Murray says his players will be spurred on by the prospect of frustrating their visitors again today.
Especially after Hearts boss Robbie Neilson said his league leaders are desperate to make amends this afternoon.
‘With what Robbie was saying, we know Hearts r emember that game and will be looking to rectify things,’ said former Hibs star Murray.
‘They clearly don’t want it to be a ground where they don’t get a win all season.
‘It’s a good incentive for us. We want to stop them from getting three points on our patch — and we want to be the first team to beat Hearts.
‘No matter what they say, they will be desperate to go the whole season unbeaten, so there is plenty on the line for both clubs.’
Dumbarton were hammered 5-1 by the capital club in October but Murray is more inclined to l ook to the 0- 0 stalemate for inspiration.
His side are currently in seventh place in the Championship table after a heartening festive period and he insists they have ‘nothing to lose’ today.
‘Last time we played them here, it was goalless, but it’s not like we were camped in.
‘The boys were fantastic and we could have nicked it towards the end.
‘We will take great confidence and plenty of heart from that.
‘And we are in a better position now in terms of our performances and belief.
‘Confidence is high and we have nothing to lose.’
Murray acknowledges, however, that Neilson’s men will go on to lift the Championship trophy.
‘Hearts are going to win the league, that is a certainty,’ he said. ‘That’s done and dusted.
‘They are only playing to meet the standards they have set themselves all season.’