Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 11:50 am• Tom Rofekamp

Gerald Vanenburg is in charge of the training program that has to make Mohamed Ihattaren ready to play again, the NOS learned. The former midfielder was also called in by Ihattaren at the beginning of this calendar year, when he was struggling with a serious conditional deficit and mentally went through a deep valley. Vanenburg managed to rekindle the fire in the top talent, and now that the adventure at Ajax threatens to end in deception, the team from Amsterdam hopes once more for the magic of their technique trainer.

Ihattaren has been training individually at Ajax since the beginning of August, after he had not been at the club for a while. According to the communication from the Amsterdammers themselves, this was due to ‘private circumstances’, The Telegraph knew that the Utrecht resident was threatened from the criminal circuit. For example, members of the mocromafia would even have sat in Ihattaren’s lease car from Ajax. Since then, it has been anxiously quiet around the Juventus mercenary and it has been shouted from all sides that Ajax will not lift the two million euros purchase option.

That view was reinforced by the gloomy words of Alfred Schreuder at the press conference for AZ – Ajax on Friday. “He trains individually with one of our trainers at De Toekomst. I have asked to inform me when he is fully fit again,” said the trainer about Ihattaren. Inquiry learned the NOS that it was about Vanenburg. However, the 42-time the Dutch international does not want to say anything about Ihattaren, as he has agreed that with Ajax. Other parties that are close to the twenty-year-old attacker also keep their lips together.

It therefore remains uncertain whether a longer stay at Ajax is possible for Ihattaren. According to Ajax, the club must let Juventus know ‘well’ before December 31, when the lease expires, whether it wants to exercise the purchase option. For the time being, Ihattaren played one duel in Ajax’s main squad: last season’s lost cup final against his former club PSV (1-2). At first it looked like this was going to be Ihattaren’s year, given his good preparatory form. Due to his still mysterious absence, however, he seems back to square one.