Ercüment Eryalçin, the uncle of Feyenoord midfielder Orkun Kökçü, has spoken in an exclusive interview granted to Rijnmond about the future of his nephew, amid reported interest from AC Milan, among others. Here are his words:
"We have been discussing this topic as a family for a while, there have been rumors of a departure for a few years. My personal opinion has always been: develop further at Feyenoord and make more minutes. He made a perfect debut in December 2018 at FC Emmen (with a goal and an assist, ed.). After that it was a bit of fluctuating, also with the performance in the team. In the summer after that season he could've already left, but we thought it was too early. He needed more minutes and become a regular Eredivisie player. Feyenoord's performance in the past year has changed my personal opinion. I think he should now take a step to develop further. You now need a nice selection that you can develop with. If you are in a limited selection such as at Feyenoord...You must have fellow players who perform to be able to develop yourself. Otherwise you are one of the standard players. Then your career will not progress as fast as you want. It is by no means a bad club, a great club to play football. But if you want to develop yourself further and become at least one of the best players in Europe, you should already take a step. But he has a contract until mid-2025, so he's not in charge."
