Tonny Vilhena Set for Eredivisie Return with Willem II
Tonny Vilhena is on the verge of a return to the Eredivisie, with Willem II closing in on the former Feyenoord midfielder, according to VI. The 31-year-old, once a Dutch international and a key figure in Rotterdam, is set to join the newly promoted side from Greek club Panathinaikos.
For Willem II, it is a move with a clear message: survival. Back in the top flight and determined not to drop straight back down, they are turning to experience, personality and a player who knows this league inside out.
Vilhena's Career Journey
Vilhena’s story starts, of course, at Feyenoord. He came through the academy, broke into the first team as a teenager and stayed long enough to rack up 258 appearances and 41 goals. He grew from talented prospect into a mainstay, part of a core that helped drag the club back to the top of Dutch football.
In 2019 he chose a different path, leaving the Eredivisie for Russia and signing with Krasnodar. There he featured 79 times and scored nine goals, adapting his game in a league that demanded more physicality and discipline.
January 2022 brought another change of scenery. Vilhena moved to Spain, joining Espanyol on loan. The switch became permanent that summer, a sign that his all-round midfield game still carried weight in one of Europe’s top leagues.
His journey did not stop there. After a season on loan in Italy with Salernitana, he headed to Greece in the summer of 2023, signing for Panathinaikos. He played 44 games for the Athens club, a busy spell that underlined his durability and versatility.
The 2024/2025 campaign sent him on the road again, this time to Turkey. A six‑month loan at Alanyaspor brought 15 appearances and two goals, another chapter in a career that has taken him through four different top divisions.
When he returned to Panathinaikos, the landscape had changed. He found himself surplus to requirements in Athens, squeezed out as the club reshaped its squad. That opened the door for Willem II.
Now, with a return to Dutch football looming, Vilhena arrives as more than a nostalgic signing. He brings European experience, a proven engine in midfield and a familiarity with the intensity of Eredivisie battles. For a promoted side staring at a long, hard season, that kind of know-how can be the difference between clinging on and slipping away again.
