Radinio Balker scouting report as Huddersfield Town linked with transfer
The Groningen centre-back looks to be in the frame as a potential January signing
Credible reports from the Netherlands have suggested that Groningen centre-back Radinio Balker will be next through the door at Huddersfield Town for a reported €1.3m transfer fee.
So, what kind of player is Balker?
First of all, the usual disclaimers apply that we’re looking at quite different leagues here and you can never quite be certain how a player will translate from one side to the another, so a lot of what we’ll be talking about will be stylistic.
However, except for at the very top of each league, the Dutch Eredivisie and English Championship are generally regarded as being fairly like-for-like, and although Groningen are now in the Dutch second tier, they are newly relegated and Balker has plenty of experience playing in the top flight.
Town will be reassured by having successfully recruited from the Netherlands before, most recently Yuta Nakayama and Carel Eiting – though of course there have been some less-than-successful moves in that mix too.
Three things immediately stand out. First, despite standing at 6’3”, he’s no plodder by any means: to the contrary he actually looks quick. That’s an absolute must for a player who will presumably be partnering the solid but not exactly rapid Michal Helik and Tom Lees. We saw before Nakayama went away on international duty that the Japanese international was capable of bailing them out in ways Matty Pearson couldn’t.
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