AZ striker Meerdink is seen by analyst Kenneth Perez as the future of the Netherlands. He has already played 89 official matches and scored 22 times. Meerdink is now starting against PSV in the Johan Cruijff Schaal. According to Perez, Meerdink has the potential to become the regular striker for the Dutch national team. The 23-year-old Meerdink has played 89 official matches at the highest level, scoring 22 times. In October last year, he was called up to the Dutch national team for the first time, but a hip injury put an end to his dream. Meerdink was out of action for months and seems to be fully fit again to play a whole season with AZ. Perez hopes that the son of former footballer Martijn Meerdink will show himself. “He has very specific and exceptional qualities that you don't often see in players,” says the analyst from ESPN just before the kick-off of the match between PSV and AZ. “It sounds strange, but I hope and expect that he has improved in the period that he was injured. Because he is probably physically stronger now and has experienced the absence of football. He will probably become the first striker, especially if Troy Parrott leaves,” says Perez. On behalf of AZ, technical director Niels van Duinen has already stated that Meerdink 'in principle' is the first striker of AZ, regardless of the situation around Parrott. In October last year, Perez already called Meerdink a 'future top player'. He still stands behind that. “I meant it jokingly, when I said that he is the future of the Dutch national team. But I still think that. It sounds strange, based on very few matches, but how he finishes and moves… I hope that I will be right in three years.”