Kuyt: Liverpool move is an honour

Holland striker Dirk Kuyt was set to undergo a medical at Liverpool today before finalising a four-year contract and completing his “dream” move to the Anfield club.

Kuyt played in the second half of Holland’s 4-0 win over the Republic of Ireland in Dublin last night before travelling on to Merseyside for what is believed to be a straight £10m (€14.7m) deal, with no player exchange as Liverpool had at first wanted.

Feyenoord rejected Liverpool’s initial bid of £8m (€11.8m), and were not keen on either Jerzy Dudek or more recently Jan Kromkamp being added to the deal. Kromkamp’s wages were a major stumbling block for the Dutch club.

It is understood the Reds went back to Feyenoord at the beginning of the week with a straight cash deal for Kuyt, based on payments.

The 26-year-old, who has rejected the chance to join Newcastle, said: “For me Liverpool is to be sure the dream club I was looking for.

“There was more interest from abroad, but for me there was nothing of the calibre of Liverpool, a brilliant club with an enormous reputation and fantastic, empathic support and a fabulous history. It is an honour to play for a club like that.

“I leave Feyenoord with mixed feelings. I have experienced three great years in Rotterdam, despite us not winning any major prizes. The crowd continued to adopt a positive attitude in spite of that.

“Feyenoord supporters are the sort of fans any club would like to have in their stadium. I will always respect that, as I respect all the people at the club. That is why I consider it an honour that the chairman wanted to see me back at De Kuip.

“That is an expression of appreciation. I wish the players, coaches and all fans a great deal of success this season. From England I will continue to follow everything that happens at De Kuip.”

Feyenoord chairman Jorien van den Herik told his club’s official website: “We did everything we could to keep Dirk at Feyenoord.

“We went a long way to do that and Dirk was open to that, but we knew that the chance was he would leave if his dream club came in. Liverpool was, and is, his dream club.

“Many clubs have tried to contract Dirk over the recent period, but he’s said ‘no’ to clubs every time because they were not appealing enough, despite there being some very renowned clubs among them.

“That characterises Dirk’s attitude: either Feyenoord or my dream club.”

He added: “Feyenoord, Dirk and the player’s agent Rob Jansen have always said that a transfer would only happen if everyone was agreed. All parties have kept their promises.

“The response was always ‘no’ up to now, but when Liverpool came knocking with a serious offer we knew that a transfer was an option.

“It is a pity for Feyenoord, but we do not begrudge him this step. We have to be thankful to Dirk for his effort and loyalty to Feyenoord and its supporters. He deserves respect and a big farewell from Feyenoord and we hope that he returns to De Kuip after his foreign career.”

If Liverpool can complete the medical and final details of the move, Kuyt could be in the squad to face Sheffield United in the season’s opener at Bramall Lane on Saturday.

But it is more likely that he will feature in the Champions League trip to Kiev next week to face Maccabi Haifa.

Van den Herik accepts that losing Kuyt so close to the beginning of the Dutch season is a major problem.

But he said: “You cannot blame Dirk for that. That is the fault of the European transfer system. The leagues are well under way in many European countries, but there is a great degree of uncertainty until August 31.

“The transfer window system up to and including August 31 simply does not work. It really has to be discussed at European level.

“Due to the system, coaches and players are in a state of protracted uncertainty and we clubs are not sure what can happen. Dirk’s transfer is an example of that.”