Quinten Timber decided at the beginning of May to exchange Ajax for FC Utrecht. What followed were a lot of surprised reactions, especially because a multi-year contract was ready in Amsterdam for the only twenty-year-old central midfielder. Timber, who never got playing minutes in the main squad at Ajax, has, however, consciously opted for a new adventure in his still early career.
Timber emphasized in an extensive interview with Football International that Utrecht is absolutely no step back for him. “You should not see it that way. I could also have extended at Ajax. My feeling said that I had to take this step. It is time to show myself in the Eredivisie,” said the ambitious midfielder. The switch caused quite a stir in his immediate environment. “When the news was announced, the reactions were more intense than expected. I got a lot of love, people who sent me messages.”
“But of course you also get other reactions. ‘Why don’t you stay with Ajax? Why do you leave?’ But most people understood my choice. And trainer Erik ten Hag? He said he was sorry that I was leaving, but wished me success,” Timber looks back on his premature farewell to Ajax. What will also be different for the Utrecht acquisition is the fact that he is no longer on the field every day with brother and friend Jurriën Timber, who seems to have conquered a permanent place at Ajax in the rear.
“A lot changes, but at the same time not,” said the down-to-earth midfielder of the club from the Domstad. “We both still live at home with our mother, here in Utrecht. In fact, we still share a room. So I see him every day, we talk every day. Am I jealous of him? No, I’m proud. We both choose a different route. Hopefully we will play together again one day.” The Timber brothers may meet on 3 October, when Ajax is visited by Utrecht in the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
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