Bafana’s Le Roux goes Dutch as he joins FC Volendam

Bafana Bafana midfielder Luke Le Roux has joined Dutch Eredivisie side FC Volendam from Swedish outfit Varberg.

The Dutch side confirmed on Wednesday that they had signed the 23 year-old Bafana Bafana midfielder, who on Tuesday was named in Hugo Broos’ preliminary squad for next month’s friendlies against Namibia and DR Congo.

“Luke is the type of player we have been looking for for a long time to complement our midfield. He primarily plays as a holding midfielder, but also chooses his moments to get involved in the attack,” Volendam technical director Jasper van Leeuwen told the side’s official website.

“Luke physically holds his own, has a lot of dynamics, is skilled with the ball and has a good understanding of the game. The best summary is an all-round and box-to-box midfielder.”

“Luke has gradually developed into an excellent player in Sweden, who is now also an international player for his country.

“The fact that he is now coming to Volendam is really an injection of quality for our team. In addition, there is also a lot of room for improvement in Luke, so we are looking forward to a great new development trajectory.”

A step up

The move represents a step up for Le Roux from the Swedish top flight Dutch football’s elite league. He had been a regular at Varberg for four seasons after joining them in 2020 from SuperSport United.

He made just over 100 appearances in all competitions for Varberg, netting four goals.

Volendam won promotion to the Eredivisie in 2022, after a 13 year absence, and finished 14th in the 2022/23 campaign.

They have had a bad start to the new campaign, losing their opening two league matches, 2-1 at home to Vitesse and 4-1 away to Go Ahead Eagles.