Birmingham have now ruled out a deal for Dembele, but club director Toon Gerbrands has also revealed that Italian striker Graziano Pelle is nearing the exit. "(Director of football Ernie) Stewart will talk to his agent soon," Gerbrands said. "The chances are that he will leave." The summer exodus at AZ has already seen Jeremain Lens, David Mendes da Silva and Mounir El Hamdaoui leave the club as they try to balance the books. But that is bound to hamper their ability to compete at the top of the Eredivisie, and they opened the season with a 1-1 draw at NAC Breda last Sunday. De Graafschap sit proudly atop the standings, albeit after only one game, but will face a tough task to stay there as they follow up their 3-0 win over Excelsior with a trip to face PSV Eindhoven. Heracles Almelo also enjoyed a 3-0 win last weekend, beating Willem II, and will try to follow that up away to VVV Venlo. Champions FC Twente were held to a disappointing 0-0 draw at Roda JC in their opening game last Friday, and must do better at home to Heerenveen on Saturday night. Ajax likewise only earned a point from their first match, a 2-2 draw at Groningen. However, their success last season was built on an outstanding home record - they won 16 of 17 games at the Amsterdam ArenA - so will be hoping to kickstart the campaign against Vitesse Arnhem on Saturday. Feyenoord started well last week as they look to banish the memory of a poor campaign last season, beating FC Utrecht 3-1.and will travel to Rotterdam rivals Excelsior on Sunday with high hopes of another victory. Sunday's other games see ADO Den Haag face Roda JC, FC Utrecht host NAC Breda and NEC Nijmegen travel to Tilburg to face Willem II.
