FC Cincinnati is expected on Thursday to announce it hired Gerard Nijkamp, formerly the technical director of the Dutch first-division club PEC Zwolle, as its new general manager.

There have been rumors of the hire for weeks. Team President Jeff Berding sat down with The Enquirer on Wednesday for an exclusive interview about the process, the pick and the team's future under Nijkamp in advance of the formal announcement to discuss the hiring.

Nijkamp was culled from more than 100 candidates, a process that started in January, and was one of two people who came to Cincinnati to interview in person, Berding said.

Berding, who has been dealing with a series of issues – from a coach firing to issues on the field to continued fights to get the team's West End stadium built –was effusive and happy in the one-hour interview.

Nijkamp, 49, who speaks Dutch, German and English, will oversee roster management, roster budget and salary cap administration, along with player acquisitions and hiring the club's next head coach, among other duties.

Nijkmamp will oversee all aspects of FC Cincinnati's sporting activities. He won out for multiple reasons, Berding said.

"No question we share values ... He's proven," Berding said. "He's knowledge-based and data-driven. We got the right guy."

Berding also noted that Nijkamp's tactical soccer philosophy – a possession-driven style – aligned with FC Cincinnati's core playing principles.

Nijkamp comes to Cincinnati having overseen a successful youth academy in the Netherlands as well as on-field success for the PEC Zwolle senior team since 2012. During his term as technical director there, Nijkamp oversaw a 2014 Dutch Cup win, a 2014 Dutch Super Cup victory, participation in Europe's second-rung club soccer championship, the Europa League and a sixth-place finish in the 2015 Eredivisie, the Netherlands' top soccer league.

PEC Zwolle finished the recently-concluded 2018-19 campaign the No. 13 team out of 18.

The move to Cincinnati will be a step up for Nijkamp, who is moving from PEC Zwolle's 12,500-capacity MAC³PARK Stadion to 32,250-seat Nippert Stadium on the University of Cincinnati campus. Nijkamp will be introduced locally at a news conference Thursday. He'll spend two days in the Queen City before returning to the Netherlands.

FC Cincinnati agreed with PEC Zwolle to allow Nijkamp to divide his time between the two clubs in the upcoming weeks as he'll work to identify his replacement at his now-former employer.

The top agenda items for Nijkamp at FC Cincinnati include evaluating the current team and helping the club continue its head-coaching search – a process in which he'll have significant input.

Berding said that, as with Nijkamp, there won't be a timeline placed on the forthcoming head-coaching hire, adding, "we want to find the right guy for that position."

All the talk of philosophy plans and using analytics to drive decisions are important, Berding said. But, in the end, Berding recognized a piece of himself him Nijkamp.

“He wants to win, I want to win," Berding said. "I am smart enough to know that we need to rely on experienced soccer professional. He wanted the bigger opportunity, and what we have built to date in Cincinnati in a short period of time offers a great platform. No question we share values.”

Nijkamp, along with his wife, came to Cincinnati the first week of May, with Berding trying to keep the potential hire out of the spotlight. It worked. Berding took him to Boca, the West End stadium site and the Milford training facility. There were meetings at the Queen City Club and in the offices of KMK, the team's law firm.

Nijkamp and wife even participated in the Flying Pig Marathon's 10K. A visit to Skyline has to wait, Berding said with a laugh.

Nijkamp will report to Berding, who said he will weigh in on the budget, philosophy and organization as a whole.

Berding served as the team's GM, in part, because the MLS organization was built in 277 days, not years like L.A. or Atlanta, and he said he did not want to rush a decision on a general manager.

“I would much rather have the right guy now in place to lead for the next several years, than to hire the wrong guy,” Berding said. “You can more easily hire a coach. The wrong GM would set you back. I stand by the business decision. Nobody did this as quickly as we did, and we knew I would need time to learn more from my peers around the league while building out the business side of our franchise.

"If we had over 1,000 days, like the two most recent MLS expansion franchises, then you have time to do everything before the first MLS match: Hire the leadership and staff, build out the team, raise capital and complete your stadium, and more. We just didn’t have time in 277 short days."

He said Carl Lindner III, the team majority owner, and he trust the organization's USL soccer staff to lead the transition. Berding ended up firing head coach Alan Koch after 11 games this season in MLS.

"We had a record-setting season, going 23 matches unbeaten," Berding said. "We knew we would have growing pains but were willing to live with them. We established a process, a philosophy and a budget. My focus was to ensure the discipline within our group. It didn’t work out as we hoped, but we knew the GM would ultimately have the opportunity to build form here, and with Luke Sassano, Yoann Damet and Gary Walker, we have a talented group that is committed to FC Cincinnati’s success and will support him in his transition to MLS."

Follow Patrick Brennan on Twitter at @PBrennanENQ and at Cincinnati.com all day Thursday for the latest on the Nijkamp hire.

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