Mike Verweij provides clarity about Jetro Willems’ visit to ArenA

Sunday, August 15, 2021 at 4:57 PM

Jetro Willems posted an Instagram Story on Saturday evening, showing that he was present at the match between Ajax and NEC (5-0) in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. The presence of the 27-year-old wing defender, who is currently without a club, in Amsterdam led to the necessary speculation. Mike Verweij, Ajax watcher for The Telegraph, however, writes on Twitter that Willems is not an option for the Amsterdammers at the moment.

“Sometimes it is a false alarm during the transfer period”, Verweij begins his tweet, which includes a photo showing Willems in the stands of the Johan Cruijff ArenA. “Jetro Willems was present in a skybox of the Johan Cruijff ArenA during Ajax – NEC. But although he worked with Erik ten Hag in the past (between 2011 and 2012 at PSV, where Ten Hag was assistant coach at the time, ed.): not an option. Maybe just a fan.”

Willems himself posted a video from the Johan Cruijff ArenA in Instagram Stories. Since the 22-time the Dutch international is currently without a club, this led to the necessary speculation. Willems was under contract with Eintracht Frankfurt for the past four years, but his contract there expired earlier this summer. In his first two seasons he played quite a lot for that Adler, before making the move to Newcastle United on loan.

Willems performed excellently in the Premier League, until he suffered a serious knee injury. He has only fully recovered from this since January of this year and partly because of this he did not play any official game for Eintracht Frankfurt last season. The question now is where his future lies, but that does not seem to be at Ajax. “I would no longer be able to live here in Rotterdam and also not be able to come home to my parents, but it is a beautiful club,” Willems, who grew up in Rotterdam, said earlier in the program. Andy not too Vermeijde about a possible employment contract with Ajax.