The Grecians newest recruit, Sil Swinkels, has given his first interview since he put pen to paper on a season-long loan spell from Aston Villa.
The 21-year-old Dutchman, who spent the second half of last season on loan in League One at Bristol Rovers, is the latest body through the door as Gary Caldwell builds his team for a fourth straight season in the third tier.
Speaking about his latest move, Swinkels could not be more please to be here.
“It feels very very good. I’ve just met the boys and now I am very excited to get started,” he said.
Swinkels is a player that the club had been monitoring for some time, and it was the relationship between the Dutchman and a former Villa coach – and current City coach – Dan Green, that helped move the transfer forward.
“I spoke to both Dan and Vil [Sinisalo – former keeper on loan from Villa] last week and they were both very positive speaking about the manager and about the club and the fans. It’s just nice to come in and know someone like Dan who is here now and Vil who had the loan here, and see it from people around the building what you can achieve.”
Swinkels’ experience with Bristol Rovers last season was a difficult one, with the Gas suffering relegation from League One, but the defender feels that he learnt a lot during his time that he can bring to his next South West club.
“At Bristol, looking back it was a great experience because it was my first loan. Being around a League One changing room you see how it is, what’s on the line and what you play for, so overall it was good and hopefully I can bring that into this season.”
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