Mats Knoester reveals Aberdeen insider sold transfer move as style question lands confident 'I am Dutch' response
Mats Knoester admitted Stefan Gartenmann helped sell him on his move to Aberdeen.
The 26-year-old signed a two-and-a-half year deal at Pittodrie following his departure from Ferencvaros. The Dutchman was a former team-mate of Gartenmann in Hungary and the former Don gave Jimmy Thelin’s side and the Granite City the big sell. Gartenmann had a loan spell at Aberdeen last season. Knoester said: “I know Stefan Gartenmann. I know him from Ferencvaros and we talked about it. He was also very positive about the move. He texted me because he heard about the interest. I asked him how is it there, how is life, how is the club? He didn’t say a bad word about anything.”
The former Heracles star had a few options but when Aberdeen came calling it was an easy decision. He said: “It feels really good. Everything happened really fast and I am happy to be here. For me, I didn’t have any doubts coming here. It was settled quickly on both sides."
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Aberdeen have had their own Dutch heroes in the past and Knoester hopes to make a positive impact like Hans Gillhaus. Willem van der Ark, Peter van de Den and Theo ten Cast. The Dutchman admitted: “One of the first things I heard when I arrived here was that if you leave a good impression you’ll be remembered. There is a bit of Dutch history here, I know a little bit about it.”
Aberdeen’s Premiership form is currently in free fall. They haven’t won in 14 league games but they are still fourth in the league and just two points off third. Knoester is desperate to help Thelin to turn things around and to seal a European return. He has previously played in the Champions League with Ferencvaros.
He explained: “I hope to add my experience of playing in European games and get more of that here. I played in Europe before but I am looking forward to the future, we want to play at that level with Aberdeen too. I am ambitious and ready for what’s coming. I have learned a lot from playing in different countries and leagues.”
Thelin has now brought in Krister Tobers, Alfie Dorrington and Alexander Jensen in this window and has completely revamped his defence. He will be hoping it gels and gives his team some much-needed stability. Thelin clearly wants to play from the back and Knoester believes he can be a major asset on that front.
He confidently explained: “I am Dutch. The Dutch football school is building up from the back. I am left-footed and that is an advantage playing on the left side. I try to get the passes through. My left foot is decent. Defending-wise, I am pretty physical.
“That is the idea behind it. When I saw some clips from Aberdeen I saw they were trying to play from behind and weren’t just to put the ball long. I think it is a good fit. I was in Denmark and their league is also very physical. As soon as you adapt to that then I think I can manage the physical part. I am a little bit in the middle of the physical and on the ball.”
The new boy is keen to get his own career back on track after falling out of favour at Ferencvaros and then picking up an injury in his loan spell at Danish club AGF. He did play in the Danish Cup final but lost to Silkeborg. Knoester, speaking to RedTV, said: “I went to AGF on a loan deal, started off playing there then got an ankle injury which kept me out for longer than I expected.
“I ended the season with a cup final, which was nice. There were ups and downs but it was an amazing experience. I went back to Ferencvaros at the beginning of the season with a Dutch coach, Pascal Jansen.
“They wanted me to stay and I was satisfied but it hasn’t turned out as expected. I am not the type of guy to wait, so I wanted a move this winter to get into an environment again where I can show my qualities. I want to compete and play for a club that is ambitious.”
He now feels he has found that in Aberdeen.
