Wednesday, October 28, 2020 at
Meritan Shabani was close to a transfer to Ajax more than a year and a half ago. The midfielder was under contract with Bayern Munich at the time, but after the announcement in January 2019 of the forthcoming departure of Frenkie de Jong to Barcelona, Ajax focused on Shabani. Nevertheless, it did not come to a transfer. Shabani, who now plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers, doesn’t know why the deal bounced.
“Interest increased quickly, but also faded out relatively quickly”, the Kosovar German recalls in an interview with Transfer market. In January 2019 wrote Kicker about talks between Ajax and Bayern Munich about the transfer of the then 19- and now 21-year-old midfielder. A deal seemed imminent, but never materialized. “Ajax wanted me to be De Jong’s successor. They really wanted me and it would have been a really good step for me”, says Shabani. “I wanted to go to Ajax on a rental basis, but Bayern did not want to participate. Why, why, why … I don’t know. In the end it just didn’t work out. That’s it.”
Who is Meritan Shabani, the alleged successor of Frenkie de Jong at Ajax?
Football Zone wrote a background article about Meritan Shabani’s career in January 2019.
The youth exponent of Bayern Munich thus finished the 2018/19 season in the promises team of the superpower from the Bundesliga. He would not play for the main force after the rejected deal; Shabani had previously played two league games. In the summer of 2019, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers for 1.5 million euros, where he also plays in the U21 team. His first season was completely lost due to an injury to the anterior cruciate ligament in front of his right knee, but he is now fit again. Last summer, several clubs angled for his arrival.
Wolverhampton, however, “ clearly vetoed, ” Shabani said. “I had to stay here and develop here, because the team will have to choose a lot of games in a short period of time. In the future it will have to become clear whether a rental period is a logical choice. At the moment I fully focus on my tasks here” , he explains. Shabani is not jealous that players like Chris Richards, Jamal Musiala and Joshua Zirkzee have now been given a chance at Bayern in the Bundesliga. “Of course I am happy for the boys. After a very long time it seems to finally happen for them. It does not frustrate me that I am no longer there or that it did not work out at the time. I am happy with how everything went. I don’t think about what could have happened. Everything went as it should. “