Right when questions have started to be asked about the Louisville City attack early in 2023, a new striker enters the fray looking to add a spark to Morados offense. Maarten Pouwels (Instagram), a towering 6’7” Dutch striker, has signed with the club joining Cameron Lancaster and Wilson Harris as striker options for Coach Danny Cruz. The 24-year-old has played his entire career in the Netherlands. He began in the youth ranks of SV Dalfsen before making his professional debut with Go Ahead Eagles in 2018. For the 2020/2021 season, he joined SC Cambuur and then made the move most recently to Almere City in 2021. For Almere, he has made 50 appearances and scored seven times.
“We’re thrilled to be able to sign Maarten after tracking him for almost a year,” said coach Danny Cruz. “Our scouting process shows he is a player that, from a data perspective, fits really well in our game model. After going through the interview process, we also feel he will be a great fit in our locker room."
“While most people will look at Maarten’s size, for us it was his quality on the ball and ability to bring his teammates into the game with holdup play that stood out. We are looking forward to getting him here to start his integration with our group and introduce him to our amazing city.”
“I have played five years in the Netherlands, and I think this is the right time and Louisville City FC is the right club to make a move,” Pouwels said. “I was looking to go abroad, and this situation felt good from the start as Louisville presents a fresh start and the chance to earn more minutes."
What’s not to love about a giant Dutch target man? His imposing size certainly adds something different to the options currently at the team’s disposal. Looking at his stats and comparing it to USL numbers might be a bit of an apples and oranges situation (like Rasmus Thellufsen) but Coach Danny Cruz and his staff and done an incredible job picking out new talent and there is little reason to doubt them now. The Netherlands does have a good track record of exporting talented players, so here is to hoping that this ends up looking like a steal for LouCity. While we await the debut of our new CF, check out some of his footage below.
Parting Thoughts
Want to do a little more reading on LouCity? I suggest the following:
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