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Excelsior Rotterdam

How Excelsior Rotterdam are set up for the 2026/27 Eredivisie season: squad movement, tactical approach and the questions that remain open.

Where they stand

  • Previous Season (2025/26 Eredivisie, completed, not the current 2026/27 campaign): Excelsior finished 13th — 34 played, 10W-8D-16L, 43-56 (-13), 38 points — surviving directly (no relegation play-off) via a 1-1 home draw with FC Volendam on the final matchday, then closing the season with a 3-2 away win in the Rotterdam derby at Sparta.

League record

  • 1 match played · 3 points · 4 scored, 0 conceded.Limited confidence

Summer squad changes

16 in, 9 out. Where a move is reported rather than confirmed, or a player is not yet eligible to play, that is stated.

In

  • Kasey Bos from 1. Fsv Mainz 05Loan in · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedAustralian-Dutch left-back, grew up in Melbourne, pro debut for Australia 2024, on a four-year Mainz contract; club states a recent injury limited his Mainz minutes and frames the loan as a return-to-rhythm move. Brother Jordan plays for Feyenoord.
  • Marlon van de Wetering from FC EindhovenPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedRight-back (18); broke through at FC Eindhoven in 2025/26 (debut August 2025); 6 Jamaica youth/senior caps.
  • Daniël van Vianen from FC DordrechtPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the clubCentral midfielder (23); Dordrecht academy product who suffered a severe knee injury in May 2025 (roughly 9 months out), returned early 2026 and regained his place. Club-described as two-footed, a tackler/distributor.Started all four 'first-xi' pre-season friendlies immediately following his return from a long-term injury — an early, positive sporting-impact signal, though drawn only from friendlies (see preSeason.evidentialWeightNote).
  • Yacqub Finey from Gif SundsvallPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedVersatile forward (22); ifk Göteborg academy product who moved to gif Sundsvall in early 2024. Club emphasises his height, technique, and left foot. Disclosed contradiction: described as a "midfielder" on the squad page but a versatile "attacker" in this signing release — see squad.players.
  • David Garden from Quick BoysPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the clubStriker (22); Sparta Rotterdam academy product via FC Eindhoven and a loan at Almere City, then Tweede Divisie champion with Quick Boys.Technical director Ruijl explicitly frames this signing as replacing Jerolldino Bergraaf at striker; however, pre-season selection data shows De Regt — not Garden — occupying the recurring front-three slot in all four 'first-xi' friendlies, with Garden instead entering the team as an additional forward option from 24 July, displacing Groen rather than De Regt. This contradiction between the club's own framing and the observed selection pattern is preserved, not smoothed over — see profile.vulnerabilities.
  • Jan Plug from FeyenoordLoan in · Confirmed by the clubLeft-footed centre-back/left-back (21); Feyenoord academy product, senior debut May 2025 with 9 official Feyenoord appearances including Europa League football, most recently a regular starter on loan at FC Dordrecht. States he can play centre-back or left-back.Displaced Widell at centre-back in pre-season selection from 18 July and started the two most recent 'first-xi' friendlies there — a real, already-observed sporting impact, not merely projected.
  • Ilano Silva Timas from Mvv MaastrichtPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedLeft winger/attacking midfielder (23); Rotterdam-born, 71 mvv Maastricht appearances (11 goals/13 assists over two seasons), a Cape Verde senior debut in May 2025.The closest on-paper profile to replace Sanches Fernandes's left-wing dribble-and-finish role (see profile.vulnerabilities), but arrived 15 July and started only the parallel second-string fixture on 1 August — no evidence yet of him occupying that role in a first-choice xi.
  • Celton Biai from FC DordrechtPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedGoalkeeper (25); Lisbon-born, Benfica academy product via Vitória Guimarães, joined FC Dordrecht in early 2024 as first-choice goalkeeper. Reunites with Van Vianen and Plug at Excelsior.
  • Valentin Sulzbacher from Red Bull SalzburgPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedCentral midfielder, 6/8 profile (21); full Red Bull Salzburg academy pathway, every Austrian youth national team, first move abroad. Announced 11 days before the season opener.
  • Osman Turay from Bayer Leverkusen U19Permanent transfer · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedLeft-sided defender (18); German youth international (U15-U19), previously of the Schalke 04 and Bayer Leverkusen academies. Announced 9 days before the season opener, carrying an unexamined international-clearance question (see availabilityChecks[playing_eligibility]).
  • Nolan Martens from De GraafschapReturned from loan · Reported, not yet confirmed
  • Noah NaujoksOption exercised · Confirmed by the clubContract option activated, extending his deal to mid-2028 (announced together with De Regt).
  • Gyan de RegtOption exercised · Confirmed by the clubContract option activated, extending his deal to mid-2028 (announced together with Naujoks).
  • Guilliano CairoType not stated · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedContract extended to mid-2028 + option (20, cb). Academy product since 2023, first professional contract October 2025, Eredivisie debut in a 5-0 home win over FC Utrecht.
  • Quinten KraaivangerType not stated · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedFirst professional contract signed; the club's own announcement article was not opened by the research pass — contract length unknown, and this is the weakest-verified transaction in this card (headline/date level only, not full-article confirmed).
  • Jeyano Fortes RochaType not stated · Confirmed by the club · Eligibility not establishedFirst professional contract signed; same verification caveat as Kraaivanger — the announcement article was not opened, contract length unknown.

Out

  • Jerolldino Bergraaf to AZ (initially Jong AZ)Loan out · Confirmed by the clubClub-stated as replaced by David Garden at striker; pre-season selection data instead shows De Regt occupying the recurring front-three slot throughout, with Garden entering as an additional option only from 24 July — see profile.vulnerabilities for this preserved contradiction.
  • Calvin Raatsie to FC DordrechtPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the club
  • Adam Carlén to Sk Artis BrnoPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the clubRemoves a recognised central-midfield screening option from squad depth.
  • Derensili Sanches Fernandes to Huddersfield TownPermanent transfer · Confirmed by the clubThe club's single largest confirmed sporting loss this summer: 6 goals/3 assists in 2025/26 per the club's own release, 5 of those goal contributions in the final five matches of the season, across 104 appearances in three seasons — concentrated, proven late-season output that no incoming attacker has a comparable Eredivisie track record to replace. Silva Timas is the closest on-paper profile but has not yet occupied that role in a first-choice xi — see profile.vulnerabilities.
  • Arthur ZagréContract expired · Confirmed by the club
  • Ilias BronkhorstContract expired · Confirmed by the club
  • Mike van DuinenContract expired · Confirmed by the club
  • José Almeida ReisContract expired · Confirmed by the club
  • Szymon WlodarczykContract expired · Confirmed by the club

The coach

  • Ruben den Uil is head coach for the 2026/27 season, under contract to summer 2027 (extension announced 2025-09-14) — no coaching change from 2025/26.
  • Den Uil has been an Excelsior assistant coach since 2021 and was promoted to head coach in 2024 — the year stated by both the club's 2025 extension release and Rijnmond's own reporting — winning promotion from the kkd in his debut season, 2024/25, as (per Rijnmond, at the time) the youngest head coach in the Eredivisie. Disclosed, unresolved contradiction: the club's own Den Uil coach-profile page separately rendered "appointed head coach in summer 2023" on a later fetch, inconsistent with both sources above. The 2024 start-year is used elsewhere in this card because it is supported by two independent sources including a dated press release; the 2023 figure is not asserted as certainly wrong, only flagged as a probable fetch/summarisation artifact — neither year is silently discarded. Named technical staff (roles not independently established for any of them beyond Den Uil himself): Thomas Verhaar, Michel Breuer, Ronald Graafland, Daan Guldemond, Yannick van der Schee, Maurice Huber, Tatsuki Nakata, Sjaak Geeve, Jesse Straver, John van Tilburg, Darren Maatsen.Moderate confidence

Pre-season

These six pre-season fixtures (six wins, 19 scored, 4 conceded — one win over a Tweede Divisie side, three wins over other second-tier/first-division sides, and one split-squad win over reserve/lower-tier opposition) are evidence of current personnel, debuts, fitness, and selection Preference only — never league-form evidence for 2026/27. The 4 July SC Cambuur friendly specifically must carry even less weight than the other five, for six compounding reasons: (1) it was played 34 days before the competitive fixture between the same two teams; (2) it was Cambuur's second pre-season match but Excelsior's first, an unequal preparation state; (3) Cambuur deliberately rotated two separate XIs across the two halves while Excelsior did not; (4) six of Excelsior's ten summer signings (Garden, Plug, Silva Timas, Biai, Sulzbacher, Turay) had not yet arrived on 4 July, so Excelsior's xi that day cannot be the xi that starts 7 August; (5) Cambuur's own squad changed materially afterward too (e.g. the El Arguioui loan, announced 31 July); (6) Cambuur's own official report frames the result as encouraging for Cambuur, not as evidence of an Excelsior tendency. Correct use of this specific fixture: personnel and debut evidence only — it must never be presented as a form line for 7 August.

  • No injury was reported in any of the six club match reports covering these fixtures. This is an absence of reporting, not confirmation that the squad is fully fit.Limited confidence
  • Attacking output was concentrated in three players: De Regt (4), Yegoian (3), and El Hamdaoui (3) combined for 10 of the squad's 19 pre-season goals across six wins (19 scored, 4 conceded). El Hamdaoui — not on the club's own squad page — was the joint-second-highest scorer; a regional source separately noted he 'maintained his perfect scoring record throughout pre-season'. His squad status remains an explicit unknown (see squad.omissionsNote).Our reading of the evidence · Limited confidence
Excelsior Rotterdam pre-season matches, with the type of match, where it was played and the result where one is recorded.
OpponentTypePlayedResult
SC CambuurNeutral venueFriendly2026-07-04Excelsior Rotterdam 3–2 SC Cambuur
FC DordrechtAwayFriendly2026-07-11FC Dordrecht 0–2 Excelsior Rotterdam
Nac BredaAwayFriendly2026-07-18NAC Breda 1–3 Excelsior Rotterdam
Heracles AlmeloNeutral venueTraining match2026-07-24Heracles Almelo 1–4 Excelsior Rotterdam
De GraafschapHomeFriendly2026-08-01De Graafschap 1–5 Excelsior Rotterdam
FC 's-GravenzandeNeutral venueFriendly2026-08-01FC 's-Gravenzande 0–2 Excelsior Rotterdam

How they play

  • Head coach Den Uil has stated a principle of high, aggressive pressing and proactive attacking football, with a deliberate refusal to set up reactively against the opponent ("Altijd van eigen kracht uitgaan" — always proceed from our own strength), crediting Robin van Persie (a shared coaching-badge cohort) for reinforcing this identity-under-pressure conviction, in a Rijnmond interview. The same interview describes a dressing-room "cultuurbord" (culture board) tracking targets — a culture mechanism, not a tactical one, and not used as tactical evidence here. Single-source coach quote, not yet independently corroborated by a second source or by structured match evidence.Moderate confidence
  • Pre-season friendly lineups (24 July v Heracles Almelo; repeated exactly 1 August v De Graafschap) show a consistent back-four/three-midfield/front-three shape, consistent with the inferred 4-3-3 reading in profile.preferredStructure — but drawn from friendlies against Tweede Divisie, Eerste Divisie, and lower-tier opposition, not competitive matches.Limited confidence

Players who matter most

  • Noah Naujoks is Excelsior's confirmed captain for 2026/27 — he wore the armband in the opening Eredivisie fixture (SC Cambuur v Excelsior, 7 August 2026), a direct competitive-selection fact superseding the earlier pre-season armband-pattern inference. No separate club-issued captaincy announcement exists; the confirmation is the match record itself.
  • Rick Meissen is the only centre-back to start all four "first-xi" pre-season friendlies (11/18/24 July, 1 August), and the only survivor at centre-back from last season's regular back line once Casper Widell dropped out of the xi after 11 July (replaced by Jan Plug from 18 July).Our reading of the evidence · Moderate confidence
  • Stijn van Gassel started in goal in Excelsior's opening Eredivisie fixture (SC Cambuur v Excelsior, 7 August 2026) — the goalkeeping competition against summer signing Celton Biai that pre-season selection alone left unresolved is settled for this specific fixture by that selection. This is a matchday-selection fact, not a durable pecking-order judgement: it says nothing about which of the two starts the next fixture.

What they do well

  • Excelsior go into the season with a genuinely settled eleven, and the value of it is that the same players keep producing the same kind of attack. The identical starting eleven — Van Gassel; Martens, Meissen, Plug, Janssen; Hartjes, Van Vianen, Yegoian; Garden, Naujoks, De Regt — started both of the last two preparation matches, eight days apart, and eight of those players started every principal friendly of the summer. What that continuity produces is visible in the club's own reports: quick attacking transitions executed by players who already know each other's movement, with Excelsior described as the superior side throughout at Heracles and starting strongly again against De Graafschap. For a club that survived on 38 points, a front six that does not have to be rebuilt week to week is the most concrete advantage it has.Moderate confidence
  • The attack has two players in fixed roles who finish in more than one way, which is what separates this from a hot streak. Gyan de Regt starts fast attacks, cuts inside from the left to finish into the far corner, and scores from direct free kicks — three distinct routes to goal from one player, all in a single match at Heracles. Irakli Yegoian converts what those attacks create: a controlled far-corner finish from De Regt's break, and a composed one-on-one. Between them, with El Hamdaoui, they scored ten of Excelsior's nineteen pre-season goals. A side whose goals come from a repeatable relationship between two settled starters is less exposed than one whose goals come from whoever happens to be in form.Moderate confidence
  • Excelsior start matches on the front foot rather than feeling their way in. They led at Heracles inside two minutes, from a transition rather than a set piece, and opened the scoring early against De Graafschap as well, with the club describing a strong start in both. Scoring first repeatedly matters for a side that spent last season near the bottom: it is the game state in which their settled attacking relationships work best, and it avoids the situation their own record says they handle worst.Limited confidence

Where they can be got at

  • The club's single largest confirmed departure, Derensili Sanches Fernandes (sold to Huddersfield Town), is credited by the club's own release with 6 goals/3 assists in 2025/26 — 5 of those goal contributions in the final five matches of the season — across 104 appearances in three seasons: concentrated, proven late-season attacking output. No incoming forward has a comparable Eredivisie track record; Ilano Silva Timas is the closest on-paper profile to his left-wing dribble-and-finish role, but arrived 15 July and started only the second-string 1 August fixture, with no evidence yet of him occupying that role in a first-choice xi.Our reading of the evidence · Moderate confidence
  • The contradiction between the club's framing and pre-season selection data is now settled by a competitive selection, and settled differently than either side of it: technical director Ruijl described David Garden's signing as replacing Jerolldino Bergraaf at striker, while pre-season selection had shown Gyan de Regt occupying the recurring front-three slot instead. In the opening Eredivisie fixture (SC Cambuur v Excelsior, 7 August 2026) both Garden and de Regt started together in the front three alongside Naujoks — neither replaced the other. This is a confirmed matchday-selection fact for this one fixture, not a durable statement that both will always start together.Our reading of the evidence · Moderate confidence

What we think happens

Each reading is shown with the evidence for it and the evidence against it. Where those pull in different directions, that is the honest state of the picture.

Excelsior's pre-season selection settled into a familiar spine of players who all featured in the Eredivisie in 2025/26 (eight ever-present pre-season starters across the four 'first-xi' friendlies: Van Gassel, Meissen, Janssen, Hartjes, Van Vianen, Yegoian, Naujoks, De Regt), rebuilding heavily only around specific departed pieces (the incumbent GK, both full-back slots, the departed left winger) — in contrast to SC Cambuur, whose confirmed departures include the four leading scorers of their promotion season, replaced by players with no Eredivisie minutes at all. This personnel-continuity contrast could favour Excelsior for the season opener.

Limited confidence

Evidence for

  • Eight ever-present pre-season starters across all four 'first-xi' friendlies (11/18/24 Jul, 1 Aug), all of whom played Eredivisie football for Excelsior in 2025/26.
  • SC Cambuur's confirmed departures include their four leading 2025/26 scorers (a combined 40 goals), replaced by three attacking signings with no Eredivisie minutes.
  • Excelsior survived a full Eredivisie season in 2025/26 and enter 2026/27 without a coaching change, while Cambuur are newly promoted with a new head coach.

Evidence against

  • Excelsior lost their own top attacking contributor (Sanches Fernandes, 6 goals/3 assists concentrated in the final five matches of 2025/26) and first-choice-incumbent goalkeeper (Raatsie) too — the "settled spine" framing understates Excelsior's own attacking and goalkeeping turnover.
  • Six of Excelsior's ten summer signings (Garden, Plug, Silva Timas, Biai, Sulzbacher, Turay) arrived in the final three weeks before the opener, meaning even the settled portion of the squad has had minimal time to integrate them.

Ruben den Uil's stated identity — high, aggressive pressing, proactive football, and a refusal to set up reactively — is implemented by this settled eleven, and the continuity of selection is what makes a coordinated press possible. This is recorded as a hypothesis and not as a strength, because no retrieved source describes Excelsior actually pressing in any 2026 match.

Limited confidence

Evidence for

  • Den Uil states the principle himself, in his own words, and it is his stated identity rather than a characterisation by others.
  • The same eleven started both of the last two preparation matches, and eight players started every principal friendly — coordinated pressing is a coached, rehearsed behaviour, and continuity of personnel is a precondition for it.
  • Excelsior are described by the club as the superior side throughout at Heracles and as starting strongly in both final preparation matches, which is consistent with, though not evidence of, a side pressing high.

Evidence against

  • Not one retrieved match report — club, regional or national — describes Excelsior pressing, winning the ball high, or counter-pressing in any 2026 fixture. The mechanism is entirely unobserved.
  • The dossier records build-up, block height, transition principles and set-piece routines as unknown, so there is no surrounding tactical description into which a press would fit.
  • Excelsior conceded twice in the final fifteen minutes of the July Cambuur friendly after leading 3-0, and no source attributes a mechanism to it — a collapse of an aggressive structure is one available reading among several, and none is supported.

Squad and club news

  • Jerolldino Bergraaf (19, striker) joined AZ (initially Jong AZ) on a one-season loan, with AZ holding a purchase option.
  • Derensili Sanches Fernandes (25, left winger) sold permanently to Huddersfield Town (England, League One), fee undisclosed — the club's single largest confirmed sporting loss this summer (see profile.vulnerabilities).
  • Hamdi Akujobi (right-back) suffered a confirmed serious knee injury ("recurrence"); no return date given, no update published since.
  • Excelsior secured direct Eredivisie survival for 2026/27 (no relegation play-off) with a 1-1 home draw v FC Volendam on the final matchday of 2025/26.
  • Mark Ruijl (40) became Excelsior's technical director from 1 May 2026, succeeding Niels van Duinen (who left for AZ); founder of scouting-data firm PlayerConnect, five years at Feyenoord rising from scouting coordinator to technical manager. Stated club model (his own words, a club statement, not neutral analysis): "Excelsior knows where it wants to go: develop talent, nurture growth, and sell at the right moment."
  • Ruben den Uil extended his contract to summer 2027 — no coaching change into 2026/27.
  • David Garden (22, striker) signed permanently from Quick Boys (2 years + option). Club-stated as replacing Bergraaf — a framing not fully matched by pre-season selection data (see profile.vulnerabilities).

Who is available

  • Four flagged availability items entering the opener, none of them resolved to a clean bill of health or a confirmed absence: Hamdi Akujobi's confirmed serious knee injury (2026-04-24) has had no update in over 99 days; Mathijs Tielemans is on the current squad page but absent from all six pre-season lineups, with only aggregator-only injury reports (not independently corroborated); Kasey Bos's fitness is unknown (no pre-season appearance retrieved); Casper Widell was dropped from the first-xi friendlies after 11 July for an unestablished reason (rotation, competition, or an issue). Separately, all ten 2026 summer signings have unconfirmed playing eligibility — a club transfer announcement alone does not establish KNVB registration.Limited confidence
  • No fixture congestion entering matchday 1: Excelsior finished 13th in 2025/26 with no UEFA competition football, and the KNVB Beker has not yet started. Next fixtures after the opener: PSV at home Saturday 15 August 20:00 (the season's first home match) and Sparta Rotterdam at home 29 August.Our reading of the evidence
  • Playing eligibilityReported but unconfirmedResolved for the three of the ten named 2026 summer signings who actually started the opening Eredivisie fixture (7 August 2026): Daniël van Vianen, David Garden and Jan Plug — direct evidence they were registered and eligible for it. Unchanged and still unconfirmed for the other seven (Bos, Van de Wetering, Finey, Silva Timas, Biai, Sulzbacher, Turay), none of whom appeared in the confirmed starting eleven or bench; Turay's separate, unexamined international-clearance question survives untouched. Nolan Martens (loan return), Noah Naujoks and Gyan de Regt (contract options) sit outside this check's original ten-signing scope and are not covered by it — their matchday eligibility is resolved independently, in their own transfer records, by the same fixture.
  • InjuriesReported but unconfirmedPartial picture: one confirmed but stale injury (Akujobi), and three genuine unknowns that are never conflated with 'injured' (Tielemans, Bos, Widell). No injury was reported in any pre-season match report — an absence of reporting, not a clean bill of health.
  • Squad and transfer statusConfirmed issueThe transfer window is open with ten confirmed arrivals, four confirmed departures, five non-renewals, and several contract extensions/first-pro-contracts, all club-confirmed with dated announcements. Named gaps remain: five reported-but-not-club-confirmed departures/statuses (Schouten, Jonathans, Hansson, Zagré's post-expiry destination, Akujobi's post-injury contractual status), and the club's own squad page omits three confirmed 2026 arrivals/returns (Sulzbacher, Turay, Martens).

What we still do not know

This profile records 16 points that available sources did not settle. The questions below are the ones that most affect how Excelsior Rotterdam are read; the rest are held open rather than filled in with assumptions.

  • Is Excelsior's disciplinary (cards/suspensions) status entering the 2026/27 Eredivisie season clear, including whether a professional-section carry-over rule exists and applies to any player?

    Directly determines matchday-squad availability for the season opener and beyond; the only carry-over rule found is scoped to amateur football, leaving the professional-section question genuinely open.

  • What is Hamdi Akujobi's current fitness and contractual status, following a confirmed serious knee injury with no update in over 99 days?

    Affects right-back depth accuracy; his absence from the current squad page is not itself evidence he has left the club.

  • What is Mathijs Tielemans's current status? He is squad-listed but has been unseen in all six 2026 pre-season lineups, with only aggregator-only injury reports available.

    His absence or return materially changes midfield options and the likely xi.

  • Did the reported-but-not-club-confirmed departures/statuses (Schouten, Jonathans, Hansson, Zagré's destination, Akujobi's contractual status) actually resolve as a single specialist source (fcupdate.nl) reported?

    Affects squad-depth accuracy; these were reported only by a single, forward-looking specialist source, not the club itself.

How current this is

Last updated: 10 August 2026 · After Matchweek 1. Drawn from 21 sources. Overall: limited confidence.

Matches

  • SC Cambuur v Excelsior Rotterdam — Fri 7 Aug, 20:00 CEST · Matchweek 1 · Played · Read the analysis
  • Excelsior Rotterdam v PSV — Sat 15 Aug, 20:00 CEST · Matchweek 2 · Read the analysis
  • N.E.C. Nijmegen v Excelsior Rotterdam — not currently scheduled · Matchweek 3

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