Jetro Willems continues his career at NEC. The 22-time Netherlands international joins on a free transfer from Spanish side CD Castellón and signs a one-year contract with an option for another season.
With the move to NEC, Willems returns to the Eredivisie after one season. Last summer, the 31-year-old defender transferred from Heracles Almelo to Castellón, which plays in the Segunda División.
Willems follows the same path as the new NEC coach Dick Schreuder. Schreuder was the coach of Castellón for the past two seasons and succeeds Rogier Meijer, who left the Nijmegen club.
NEC sees in Willems a player who fits well into Schreuder’s playing style. “The priority at the moment is in the defense. We are looking for players who can handle the playing style well and Jetro fits in well here,” says director of player affairs Carlos Aalbers on the NEC website.
Willems began his career in 2011 at Sparta Rotterdam. A few months later, the left-back transferred to PSV. In 2012, he debuted for the Netherlands national team, for which he played his last international match on September 4, 2017. Willems also played for Eintracht Frankfurt, Newcastle United, Greuther Fürth and FC Groningen.
NEC has been quite active in the transfer market this summer. The club previously strengthened itself with Tjaronn Chery, Gonzalo Crettaz, Youssef El Kachati and Virgil Misidjan.