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Lubbers: “Payne may still have a future with us”

2019-20 will be a season that American defender Desevio Payne will want to forget.

The 24-year-old right back has missed all but two league matches for Eredivisie side FC Emmen after signing a one-year contract last summer. Emmen has yet to make a decision on Payne’s future at the club, with his contract set to expire on June 30th.

The club holds a one-year option for Payne which they have yet to make a decision on, but club president Ronald Lubbers still thinks the defender could play a role at the club going forward.

“For Payne, there may also still be a future with us, but then he will have to invest in himself,” Lubbers said in an interview with Dutch outlet RTV Drenthe.

The South Carolina native has played his entire professional career to date in the Netherlands. In total, Payne has 101 career appearances overseas, but only 24 has come in first-team action between stints at Excelsior, FC Groningen, and FC Emmen.

Payne’s season-long injuries forced him to play only 54 minutes this season for Emmen, who finished 12th in the Eredivisie table prior to the season’s premature end due to COVID-19’s impact in Europe.

With a lengthy break in action due to the pandemic, Payne will hopefully be fit and ready to go for whatever comes next in his career. The former U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team player could see his option picked up by Emmen for the 2020-21 season, but will need to remain off the sidelines and fighting for minutes.

The confidence from Lubbers is a positive sign, but plenty could still happen with roughly two-and-a-half months until the expected start date for the new Eredivisie season.

Comments

  1. This boy has been injured consistently over the last 4 years…it’ll get to a point where clubs will scoff at his availability because it’s aways been short lived, so here’s to hoping he can finally put the injury bug behind him and plays consistently at least through the next year.

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