Gold Coast United boss Miron Bleiberg believes the signing of Dutch defender Paul Beekmans is about as close to a sure thing as possible in the Hyundai A-League.
Beekmans, 29, touched down on the Glitter Strip on Monday morning and will train with his new teammates for the first time on Tuesday after a grueling trip from Amsterdam.
Bleiberg was proud to unveil his prized new recruit and he has every right to be after revealing the amount of background work that went into capturing the former FC Den Bosch and SC Cambuur utility.
With Beekmans boasting nearly 300 games of experience in both the Eredivisie and the second-tier Jupiler League in Holland, the United mentor believes any risk in signing the impressively-built Dutchman has been mitigated with proper due diligence.
“There were a lot of phone calls, a lot of e-mails, a lot of YouTube, a lot of other things you do that went into it,” Bleiberg said.
“I watched some DVDs, I got some reports from other people. It’s not an easy process. It’s hard work and you’re limited in the end with money.”
“This procedure takes time but I’m happy. You try to minimize the element of mistake, which I believe we have done.”
Beekmans said after eight years in Dutch football he was longing for a move overseas and spoke to some of his ex-teammates plying their trade in Scotland about a move there.
But the advice of recently departed Gold Coast fan favourite, Bas van den Brink, helped make the decision to shift to the Hyundai A-League much easier.
“I spoke to Bas and I asked him for some information. He was excited about it and told a lot of good stories,” Beekmans said.
“A few years ago I was going to move to England as well but for some reasons it didn’t work out. My agent told me about Gold Coast and I searched on Google and it was only good stuff here.”
“I played eight years in Holland so it’s a once in a lifetime (opportunity).”
Beekmans said he hoped to bring some much-needed experience to a youthful and energetic Gold Coast United squad.
“The coach told me and that’s no problem, young players can grow and we’re going to see how fast they can grow now,” he said.
“The Dutch school of football is good I think and I hope to bring some new ideas to the young players that are here.”
Gold Coast are also in talks with another Dutchman, this time a midfielder, who could join the club and take up its last remaining visa spot left vacant by German Peter Perchtold, who is extremely unlikely to return to the club.
