Carlos Aalbers, the technical director at NEC, revealed on the talkshow 1Twente VoetbalTijd that the club attempted to bring Mees Hilgers to Nijmegen last summer when they lacked defenders. Aalbers confirmed that NEC's interest was serious and that Hilgers matched their profile, explaining that the player would be a good fit for their system which utilizes three defenders. The technical director said he called Jan Steuer of Twente, but that Twente stated clearly they did not want to loan out the Indonesia international. This transfer interest occurs as Hilgers, 24, is on an expiring contract, which he is unwilling to extend despite multiple attempts from Twente. This situation has resulted in the centre-back not playing at all this season. According to Transfermarkt, Hilgers, who joined Twente in October 2020, has a current market value of €5.00m.