Peer Koopmeiners has joined Excelsior on an initial loan deal with an option to buy, the club has announced.
The 22-year-old midfielder completed the move from AZ Alkmaar having made just league appearances for his parent club this season totalling just 94 minutes of first-team football for the Eredivisie club.
Peer, brother of Atalanta midfielder and Netherlands international Teun, mentioned he was in talks with the Rotterdam-based club in the summer but decided to stay at his parent club for a few more months.
He said: “I already had discussions with Excelsior in the summer. The story of how the club works to develop young players appealed to me even then. After discussions with AZ, I then decided to stay in Alkmaar for another six months.
“Given the number of playing minutes in the first half of the season, I now wanted to make the move to another club. That is how I came into contact with Excelsior again. The feeling was still very good and after some conversations with Niels van Duinen and trainer Marinus Dijkhuizen I was quickly out of it.”
Technical manager Niels van Duinen told the club website: “We are pleased that we can immediately add Peer to our selection on a rental basis, whereby we have been able to negotiate a purchase option for next summer in consultation with AZ. Due to the injury of Yassin Ayoub, we were looking for reinforcements for the midfield.
“We already talked to Peer in the summer and wanted to have him then. He is a right-footed midfielder, who comes into his own in the 6 or 8 position and is an absolute team player.
“With his qualities and character, he is a boy who fits well with our club to achieve our goal. He has gained a lot of experience with AZ and knows the competition well. He now wants to get more playing time with us in the Eredivisie.”
