After joining Brighton from Ajax in 2020, Joel Veltman has time and again showed his quality for the club’s supporters.
Follow Us
It is a great time to be a Brighton supporter. First, the club secured a surprising European finish and they followed it by making some eye-catching transfers and contract extensions. The latest player to extend his contract is defender Joel Veltman. The 31-year-old Ajax academy graduate has signed a new two-year contract until June 2025. It will be a big boost for the team and its supporters since Veltman has been an important part of their setup.
After joining Brighton from Ajax in 2020, Joel Veltman has time and again showed his quality for the club’s supporters. He has played an important role for the team over the years and most notably last season when the club secured an unlikely sixth place finish in the Premier League. It has seen them qualify for Europa League. Speaking about the latest development, manager Roberto De Zerbi, quoted by the club’s website, said, “I am very pleased that he has extended his contract. He is a good example to the other players, and he will be a key and important player for us.”
Things are going to get hectic for Brighton this season since they will be playing on Thursdays and Sundays. However, Veltman is up for the challenge. “We’re going to play on Thursdays and Sundays, so the programme will be even crazier. The gaffer has already said we need a big squad and for everyone to be on the same page and ready to go because nobody is going to play 60-odd games in the season,” he added.
“It’s going to be intense but really nice because if you win on Thursday and then on Sunday you get into a bit of a rhythm and that can make the team stronger. It can be an amazing journey. The gaffer wants to get as far as possible in Europe so the expectations are quite high. We’re not treating is as an aside to the Premier League, we want it as players too. The opportunity to play in both is a dream for us.”
Veltman is happy with how far the team has grown over the years. “I remember speaking to Davy Propper about the club and he said Brighton was a lovely city. But then we improved as a team, in the way we have played and the results, I knew the way the club was going, but I couldn’t have imagined us to grow as much as we have. It’s gone beyond my expectations,” he explained.
“Family was an important thing for me in deciding to come here, but the ideas we have, first with Graham Potter and now Roberto, are obviously a huge factor. I am 31 and I feel incredible and it’s great to have that opportunity in both the Premier League and now Europe at this stage in my career, and to sign for two more years.”
More Football Stories:
Manchester City treble: What Jack Grealish had to say about his wild title celebrations?
Premier League: Which players have scored the most goals in a single season?
EPL stats: Which clubs have conceded the most last-minute winners in Premier League?
EPL stats: Which clubs have scored the most number of last-minute winners in Premier League?
Premier League: Who are the players with the most number of assists in EPL history?
