According to Dutch newspaper De Gelderlander, Reading manager Jaap Stam is on a three man shortlist to become the new manager of Vitesse Arnhem in the summer.
Vitesse, who signed Roy Beerens from the Royals in January, are currently managed by Henk Fraser, but he has stated his intention to step down from the job at the end of the season. The club currently sit seventh in the Eredivisie table.
Leonid Slutsky, sacked by Hull City at the start of December, and Heerenveen boss Jurgen Streppel are also being considered by Vitesse according to the report. Albert Stuivenberg, Marcel Keizer and Andries Jonker, Dutchmen recently sacked by Genk, Ajax and Wolfsburg respectively, are also named as “dark horses”.
Russian Slutsky would appear to be the favourite, as he has already held informal meetings with technical director Marc van Hintum and also has links to Vitesse’s parent club Chelsea, due to his close friendship with Roman Abramovich. However, it is noted that his wages demands would be an issue.
It is unknown whether Vitesse are banking on Stam being sacked by Reading or whether they would be willing to pay the Royals for the 45-year-old’s services. He is however an “old acquaintance” of the aforementioned van Hintum, according to voetbalzone.
UPDATE
More reports from the land of the Dutch this morning have linked Stam with another Eredivisie job, this time the Heerenveen manager’s position. As cited above, Jurgen Streppel is currently in charge, but it is suggested that it is looking more and more likely that he will depart, potentially to Vitesse, and that Stam is the board’s number one choice to replace him. This comes via journalist Jaap Stalenburg, whilst FeanOnline claim that Stam was also on Heerenveen’s managerial shortlist two years ago when Foppe de Haan left the club, but the former Manchester United defender chose the role at Reading instead.
Ook @lc_nl speculeert nu op vertrek Jürgen Streppel bij @scHeerenveen en zijn mogelijke overgang naar @MijnVitesse. Ik blijf bij mijn mening op basis van prima bronnen dat Streppel vertrekt en Jaap Stam kandidaat nummer 1 is om hem op te volgen. pic.twitter.com/X5b0JapxkK
— Jaap Stalenburg (@JaapStalenburg) February 28, 2018