Former Newcastle United left-back Jetro Willems is on the verge of making his comeback after five months without a club.
According to Dutch outlet Voetbal International, Willems completed his first medical tests at FC Groningen on Monday, and will now look to prove his fitness in a trial session.
Groningen are sat at the foot of the Eredivisie table and have gone nine league games without a win - losing seven in the process.
The Pride of the North have also lost Brentford loanee Mads Bech Sorensen at left-back, who has suffered a broken arm. Groningen have moved quickly to draft in Willems as a replacement.
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Willems enjoyed an auspicious start to his playing career at Sparta Rotterdam and PSV Eindhoven. He played 190 times for the latter and lifted five major trophies, including two Eredivisie titles.
The Dutchman also became the youngest player to feature at the European Championships in 2012, although his record has since been surpassed by England midfielder Jude Bellingham, and then Poland international Jacper Kozlowski at Euro 2020.
He has been capped 22 times by the Netherlands in total but has not represented his nation since 2016. Willems left PSV in 2017 to join Bundesliga outfit Eintracht Frankfurt and won the DFB-Pokal in his first season in Germany.
The full-back was loaned out to Newcastle during the 2019-20 season and scored two goals in 19 appearances. He scored a memorable strike in a 3-1 defeat at Liverpool in September 2019, before bagging his second in a 2-2 draw against Manchester City.
Willems established himself as a regular in the side until he tore his anterior cruciate ligament in January 2020. It was a major blow for Willems, who was out of action for almost a year.
Despite re-joining training in Frankfurt, Willems never played again for the Eagles and left the club once his contract expired at the end of the 2020-21 season.
The 28-year-old penned a two-year deal with Greuther Furth but succumbed to relegation from the Bundesliga during his only full season at the club.
Willems made just two appearances during the 2022-23 season for Furth, before his contract was terminated in September.
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