Overview
- Local media report that 27-year-old striker Joël Piroe is moving from Leeds United to West Ham United, with accounts presented as transfers rather than club confirmations.
- Piroe rose through NEC’s youth system and established himself at Swansea before scoring 19 goals to help Leeds win promotion in 2025, but he had limited playing time and no goals last season.
- NEC will play a home first leg against Bodø/Glimt with a return match scheduled in Norway the following week as the two clubs contest qualification for the group stage.
- NEC coach Dick Schreuder said he wants a strong result while keeping the team’s attacking identity, and Bodø/Glimt coach Kjetil Knutsen described the tie as ‘fifty/fifty’ and praised NEC’s style.
- The match has strong local interest: roughly 250 Bodø/Glimt fans are expected, two city cafés will host visiting supporters, special buses will run to the Goffertstadion, and singer Rutger van Barneveld will perform before kick-off.