Diant Ramaj has said in an extensive interview Football International looks back on his difficult start at Ajax. The goalkeeper, who has now become a permanent choice under the bar, started under Maurice Steijn as third man behind Gerónimo Rulli and Jay Gorter.

Ramaj is happy that then director of football affairs Sven Mislintat saw something in him that others did not. “Because from number two at Frankfurt to Ajax is a very big step. But he saw the potential in me. At the beginning everyone was talking: “What does he do, why does he spend so much money on him?”

“Everyone knows what happened at the beginning, I suddenly turned out not to be the second goalkeeper when Gerónimo Rulli dropped out. It was a difficult period for me and of course also for the club. But I continued to work hard, as always. And when the opportunity came, I took it, I think in the right way. Now I'm glad I didn't let myself be known.”

The fact that Ramaj was passed so hard by Maurice Steijn still stings him. “I think he has seen what I am showing every day in training. And yet he said I was not ready.”

“I don't think I deserved this treatment from him. But yes, you see: he's gone and I'm still here, so everything is good. It was a difficult period, but sometimes life is like that. It makes you stronger , I think.”

Ramaj already arrived at Ajax with a lot of criticism about his transfer fee. In the eyes of the outside world, Mislintat had spent too much money on Eintracht Frankfurt's reserve goalkeeper.

“For me, the only thing that mattered was: I'm there. The rest just motivated me to show them that they were wrong. I'm very happy that I succeeded. Now everyone says it was a good investment.”

“That was in my head: that I wanted to show everyone that it was not a mistake on Sven's part. By the way, that is not finished yet, I have to show myself again and again.”

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