Having secured a permanent move to Swansea City, Leroy Fer’s next target is to play his way back into the Netherlands setup.
He is unsurprisingly upbeat following the transfer, and gave a lengthy interview in which he stated how happy he was to be back at Swansea.
Fer is in the squad for tonight’s friendly against Charlotte Independence, and will likely play his first game as a permanent Swansea player.
Fer’s Netherlands status
The midfielder has previously made 11 caps for his country and was involved in the 2014 World Cup, but hasn’t featured for the Netherlands since last year.
"If you play well at your club then always the coach is going to watch you," Fer said in his interview on the club website.
"It's a long while ago that I was last in the squad." He added, "I want to prove myself again, first of all at Swansea — for the team, the coaches and the fans."
The Dutchman concluded, "Hopefully I do so well that I can show myself again in the national team."
Fer also added that he is currently only concentrating on Swansea, but that if all goes well, like last season, he hopes that he will get another chance in the national setup.
A Fer-nominal season is needed
The Dutchman made eleven appearances under Francesco Guidolin, and towards the end of the season established himself as a regular in the first team squad.
He mainly played in a three-man midfield alongside Jack Cork and Leon Britton, and was occasionally used as the most offensive midfielder when Gylfi Sigurdsson was unavailable.
Fer will have to regain that starting spot in the team this season, which will be all the more difficult as it seems likely that the club will invest in that role, with Joe Allen being heavily linked with a return to the club.
At national level, there is also a lot of competition for midfield spots. Legendary midfielder Wesley Sneijder will retain a role, while Fer has to battle with Georginio Wijnaldum, Kevin Strootman, Tony Vilhena and Riechedly Bazoer among many for minutes.