Nigel Lonwijk joined Argyle in July 2022. In this article The Real EFL’s Heath will discuss Nigel’s career so far and assess his loan at Plymouth Argyle.
Nigel started his career in his native country, Netherlands, playing for Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven. Although he never played first team football, he signed for English side Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2020 and began his development in the U18 squad.
From here, he went out on loan to Fortuna Sittard and signed a new two year contract at Wolves with the option for a further year. He made his senior debut for Fortuna and also played 23 games that season before returning to Wolves.
Wolves then sent him on loan for the 22/23 season to Plymouth Argyle in League One. Plymouth are currently sitting in second place with Nigel playing in 29 of the 32 league games this season.
If Plymouth fans weren’t sure on what they were going to get with Nigel, on his debut he received the man of the match award despite Plymouth’s loss against Peterborough in the EFL Cup.
Debutant and man-of-the-match award-winner Nigel Lonwijk on Argyle's Carabao Cup exit against Peterborough. #pafc
— Plymouth Argyle FC (@Argyle) August 10, 2022
Onto his individual statistics this season, he averages the most successful passes per match in the Plymouth squad 40.9. He also averages the most interceptions per 90 with 2.1 per game according to football app FotMob.
There was high-praise regarding Nigel at the start of the season, showing the amount of faith he had in Nigel and how impressed he had been from the earliest of weeks. Nigel is still only 20 years old and still has plenty of years to develop his game.
💬 Plymouth Argyle manager Steven Schumacher on Wolves loanee Nigel Lonwijk
— Talking Wolves (@TalkingWolves) September 27, 2022
"How good has he been since he came in the team? He hasn't really put a foot wrong. He's so calm for someone so young. He's 19-years-old and nothing fazes him." -via Plymouth Live#WWFC | #Wolves pic.twitter.com/tnbtByOcSL
Nigel is set to return back to Molineux at the end of the season. However with the way he has settled in at Plymouth and how well he and Plymouth are doing, there could be a chance of him returning to Home Park should they get promoted to continue his development.
Writers View
I believe Nigel is set to achieve big things in the game, should he stay fit and his attitude remains as good as it is now. He needs to develop on certain areas of his game, however he’s only 20 and the developments he needs to make are more than possible and I think his overall game has improved whilst being at Home Park.
I believe he will be in and around the first team set up at Wolves next season and if he isn’t, they will be plenty of teams trying to get his signature.
