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Waterford FC announce signing of right back Navajo Bakboord

Waterford FC announce signing of right back Navajo Bakboord
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Waterford FC have announced the signing of experienced right-back Navajo Bakboord ahead of the 2025 League of Ireland season.

Bakboord makes the move to the RSC with an impressive career to date, having come up through the iconic Ajax Academy, before going on to make over 40 Eredivisie appearances for Heracles.

The 25-year-old spent over 12 years in the Ajax Academy, playing in the same defence as Matthijs de Ligt & Sven Botman – both of which who now play with Manchester United & Newcastle United respectively.

Fellow Premier League stars Justin Kluivert (Bournemouth), Ryan Gravenberch (Liverpool) & Tyrell Malacia (Manchester United) played through the age-groups alongside Bakboord as he became a regular for the Dutch underage sides.

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Navajo twice won the U19 Dutch League with Ajax, before departing his boyhood club in the summer of 2019 to sign for Heracles, where he made over 65 appearances for the Dutch outfit.

After suffering relegation at the end of the 2021/22 season, Navajo played an important role in Heracles’ defence as they returned to the top-flight of Dutch football in their first attempt, winning the Keuken Kampioen Divisie, where he amassed 20 appearances.

In 2023/24, Navajo made a total of 27 appearances across all competitions – 22 of which came in the Eredivisie – as Heracles finished 14th in their first year back in the top-flight.

Along with his impressive club experience, Navajo has enjoyed international football throughout his career to date, having come up through the underage levels of the Dutch National side from U15 right through to U20 where he picked up almost 50 caps for his country.

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In 2023, Navajo became a senior international for South American country Suriname, where he has gone on to make 5 appearances to date in their CONCACAF Nations League & World Cup Qualifying campaigns respectively.

Navajo now makes to move to the RSC ahead of 2025 where he’ll look to play an important role in the Blues defence.

Speaking on signing with the club, Navajo spoke how his experience can help the side throughout the course of the season:

“I feel good to be here. The club have amazing facilities, good coaches, a great group of players, so I’m looking forward to being here & being part of the team, and to show everyone what I’m capable of.”

“I’m a real defender, who likes to defend on a hard but fair way. 1v1 defending is my strength. Also in an attacking sense, I like to give crosses, deep overlapping runs & be creative, also with setting up goals & scoring myself. My priority is to give my winger the worst game of his life!”

“I have some good experience on the highest level in Holland, so I will show that to the fans & to my teammates.”

Bakboord will wear the number 2 shirt for the Blues in 2025.

For the latest Waterford News and Sport, tune into WLR News on the hour and download the WLR App for news on demand.

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