Dutch national team head coach Louis Van Gaal has called up Inter wing-back Denzel Dumfries for the side’s fixtures during the upcoming international break.
Speaking in a press conference, as reported by FCInterNews, the Dutch tactician explained that while he did not expect the 25-year-old to be ready and match-fit having only moved to Inter a couple weeks ago, the player has been given medical clearance to play.
Dumfries made the switch to the Nerazzurri from PSV earlier this month, and has been working hard to get himself fully prepared to contribute to his new club, but so far has only played briefly from the bench, in last weekend’s season opener against Genoa.
The Dutchman had been training individually with his previous club, and had not been selected for any of their Champions League qualifying fixtures, so there were some doubts about his fitness at the moment.
However, as Van Gaal makes clear, these doubts have been dispelled by his doctors.
“Personally, I thought that Denzel was not ready yet,” said the coach, “and I don’t think he has been involved enough to be able to aspire to the national team. He trained individually, doing only a week of group training.”
He went on, “But since my doctors say that he will return to fitness naturally and that he will do well anyway, I selected him. After all, I would have been a fool not to – in the Oranje shirt he has played very well.”
