Nigel de Jong has been close to a return to Ajax a number of times in recent years. That says the 36-year-old midfielder of Al-Shahania in a podcast on the club website of the Amsterdammers. The veteran says he still wants to return to the club where he was trained and broke through at the highest level. Given his age, De Jong expects that he will no longer return as a player to the Johan Cruijff ArenA, but possibly in another position.
De Jong left Ajax in the summer of 2006 for Hamburger SV. Two and a half years later, he made the switch to Manchester City for eighteen million euros. The 81-time Dutch international then wore the shirts of AC Milan, LA Galaxy, Galatasaray, FSV Mainz 05, Al-Ahli and now Al-Shahania. After his departure from England in 2012, De Jong was regularly associated with Ajax in the corridors. In the podcast, the midfielder confirms that a return has been discussed several times.
“There have been a few moments when I was very close to returning to Ajax. For various reasons, that never happened,” said De Jong. “But I don’t know if Erik ten Hag is listening? I am still available. Maybe for the dressing room? You don’t know,” he says with a laugh. “But if you see me back at Ajax, it’s probably not as a player, but as part of the organization.”
De Jong says that he is still following his old club closely. “I see everything about Ajax”, says the defensive midfielder. De Jong is pleased with the way in which the club has developed in recent years on the basis of general manager Edwin van der Sar and director of football affairs Marc Overmars. “That was the best move Ajax could have made. Many people were skeptical in the beginning when he (Overmars, ed.) was appointed. But he’s doing great. Great talents are brought in and there is the right expertise in house to determine which players are suitable for the system.”
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