Naturalized Young Players in the Indonesian Super League: Fading Before They Bloom?

The mid-season transfer window for the 2025–2026 BRI Super League, also known as the Indonesian Super League, has attracted attention. Not because of the arrival of marquee players or former world stars, but rather the exodus of three young diaspora players returning to their ancestral homeland.

Mauro Zijlstra (21), Dion Markx (20), and soon to be joined by Ivan Jenner (22), have chosen to continue their careers in Indonesia. They are still quite young, and in fact, they were part of the U-22 Indonesia squad at the SEA Games 2025.

The three of them represent different clubs that have brought in naturalized players since the beginning of this season. For instance, Zijlstra follows in the footsteps of Jordi Amat in defending Persija.

Subsequently, Markx joined Thom Haye, Eliano Reijnders, and Marc Klok as naturalized players strengthening Persib Bandung. Meanwhile, Jenner has reached an agreement to follow Rafael Struick and Stefano Lilipaly as naturalized players at Dewa United.

Unlike their seniors who joined the Super League at the beginning of the 2025–2026 season, the trio of U-22 Indonesia team members have yet to experience the intense competition in the highest tier of European football, at least in the Dutch Eredivisie.

This is in stark contrast when comparing the career journey of Jordi, who has traveled extensively in Spain, Belgium, and even represented the Malaysian giant, Johor Darul Ta’zim, before arriving at Persija.

Haye and Reijnders arrived after several seasons playing in the Eredivisie. In fact, Haye has experienced competition in the Italian League with Lecce. A similar experience was also faced by the new left wing-back of Persija, Shayne Pattynama, who has felt the intensity of competition in the Netherlands, Norway, Belgium, and Thailand, before accepting the offer from the "Macan Kemayoran" team.

Meanwhile, Zijlstra, Markx, and Jenner have not yet experienced the top league in the Netherlands in their professional careers, which have only begun in the last one to two years. Zijlstra, for instance, has only appeared on the roster of Volendam in the Eredivisie 2025–2026, but has not yet received any playing time.

Struick and Raven did not make it into the top 50 young players in Indonesia under the age of 23 with the most playing minutes in the 2025–2026 Super League.

Jenner merely defended Jong Utrecht, which competes in the Dutch Second Division. A more unfortunate fate was experienced by Markx, who only made two appearances over two seasons representing TOP Oss in the Dutch Second Division or Keuken Kampioen Divisie.

Zijlstra revealed that the difficulty in getting the opportunity to play with Volendam in the first half of the season was the reason he considered moving. Due to not receiving a good offer from a European club, he ultimately chose to join Persija.

"Persija has offered a long-term contract of 2.5 years. For me, there is a great trust from the club in me. I need to develop and play more at a high level," said Zijlstra as reported on the Persija website, Wednesday (4/2/2026).

The ambitions of Zijlstra and Markx, as well as Jenner, to regularly compete in Indonesia's top-tier competition are not as simple as turning one's hand. They must compete with players who have already become mainstays for the new clubs.

The prestigious name of Persib was also a consideration for Markx to come to Indonesia. The path for the player born in Nijmegen to become a choice for Persib's Coach, Bojan Hodak, in the heart of the defense will be challenging.

The reason is, he is competing with senior and experienced defenders, such as Patricio Matricardi, Federico Barba, Julio Cesar, and Persib's latest marquee player, Kurzawa.

"I'm still very young and competitive. I'm ready to compete," Markx told the Persib media team.

Zijlstra also has to compete with the current top scorer of the Super League, Maxwell, who has contributed 12 goals for Persija. Furthermore, there are Gustavo and Eksel Runtukahu, who are reluctant to miss out on playing time with Macan Kemayoran. In addition, Persija also has a new center forward, Alaeddine Ajaraie, who has come from the Indian team, NorthEast United.

Jenner will not receive a red carpet at Dewa United. He must be able to convince Coach Dewa Jan Olde Riekerink to make adjustments to the midfield trio that has long been the foundation of the "Banten Warriors" game, consisting of Jaja, Alexis Messidoro, and Ricky Kambuaya.

Jaja's frequent recurring injuries have hampered Jenner's hopes of playing regularly since his arrival.

One thing that the three young debut players in the Super League must do is not to waste a single minute of playing opportunity. If they fail to make a good first impression on the coach and supporters, the bench will become more familiar to them than stepping onto the green field.

This has been experienced by Struick at Dewa United and Jens Raven with Bali United. The two forward players did not perform better compared to local players trained in domestic football schools that are not as luxurious as those in the Netherlands.

Struick, for instance, recorded an average appearance of only 32 minutes per match in 10 games wearing the Dewa United jersey in the league. In those 10 matches, he has yet to play as one of the starting 11 players.

Raven's situation is even worse. Always playing as a substitute in 14 matches for Bali United, he has only averaged 20 minutes per match. Although he has scored one goal, Raven's performance is still far from expectations.

It can be imagined that the two diaspora players labeled as the U-22 Indonesia team are struggling to compete in the domestic competition. Their playing time does not even reach one half in each match.

Even referring to data from Transfermarkt, Struick and Raven do not rank among the top 50 Indonesian players under the age of 23 with the most playing minutes in the 2025–2026 Super League. Struick has fewer match minutes than two other young players from Dewa United, namely Theo Number (midfielder) and Rizdjar Nurviat (wingback).

Meanwhile, Raven is struggling to match the playing time of his teammates at Bali United and "Garuda Muda," Kadek Arel and Rahmat Arjuna. Not only them, but Raven's playing opportunities are also inferior compared to the former U-17 Indonesia squad member, Mouri Simon.

Regardless of the individual performance demands that must meet the standards of their respective clubs, the three debutant players must also confront the harsh reality of the Super League for young players. The average age of players in the Super League is 27.1 years.

The Super League 2025–2026 has been underway for 19 weeks, providing a total of 1,710 minutes for each player to perform at their respective clubs.

The best record for local young players is held by Persebaya Surabaya goalkeeper, Ernando Ari, with 1,620 minutes played in 18 matches, and the central defender as well as captain of Persija, Rizky Ridho, who accumulated 1,601 minutes of play in 18 matches.

By simulating young players receiving at least half of the total available playing minutes, or approximately 855 minutes, only 17 local U-23 players were able to meet that standard.

The situation makes the presence of five U-23 diaspora players—ranging from Struick, Raven, Zijlstra, Markx, to Jenner—in the Super League not to be seen as an easy way to rescue careers that have stagnated in the Netherlands. Instead, they risk causing their great potential to wither before it can flourish in the golden age of footballers.