There is still no white smoke about the contract extension of Noussair Mazraoui at Ajax for the time being. The wing defender and the team from Amsterdam, through trainer Erik ten Hag and director of football affairs Marc Overmars, have already expressed the intention several times to continue together. Mike Verweij, Ajax watcher on behalf of The Telegraph, however, thinks agent Mino Raiola is already “doing some shopping” with Mazraoui.
“What you hear is that clubs in Europe are saying that Mazraoui will be offered there for next season. Transfer free. So I think Mino Raiola is already doing quite a bit of shopping with him and that he is a very interesting option, to be able to pick up such an Ajax-trained player for free. If it’s not for the basics, then it’s very nice for the bank,” says Verweij in Kick-Off, the football podcast of The Telegraph. He states that Mazraoui will present Ajax with a problem.
“If you know that Mazraoui is not going to sign, what is the difference with Onana? I understand the irritation, but there is still a lot of money to be made with Onana. I think you have to set it up so as not to miss out on a lot of money,” says Verweij. Just like Mazraoui, Onana is in possession of an expiring contract, but Overmars has already announced that the goalkeeper will no longer sign a new contract with Ajax. The question is whether Onana will still take action after his doping suspension expires in November.
“Brobbey was also used to the last. In the past it was a rule at Ajax that when you entered your last contract year as a youth player, you no longer played. That was in the time of Van der Wiel, I think. Onana is not self-educated, that could be a difference with Mazraoui. I would draft him until the end of the season, as I would with Mazraoui,” emphasizes Verweij. His colleague Valentijn Driessen is asked whether Ajax should stop contract negotiations with Mazraoui if he is actually offered in Europe.
“Of course, that actually happened with Onana, because Overmars no longer sits down with his agent”, says Driessen, football chief at The Telegraph. “Onana has already signed a contract somewhere for next season, so there’s no point in arguing with that. He said himself that he was open to a new contract with Ajax, but last week I went to someone who said that he has already signed one hundred percent somewhere. Marc Overmars knows that too, so that’s why it says so. That could be at Inter. That person didn’t know the name of the club, I think Inter is right.”