Nicolás Tagliafico still harbors a wish to leave. The 29-year-old left back has ended up on the second plan at Ajax this season and was close to a switch to Barcelona in January, but was ultimately not allowed to leave. Tagliafico then expressed his dissatisfaction in an interview, but now wants to focus on the present and the future. He suspects that a transfer in the summer is more realistic.
After this season, Ajax seems to be saying goodbye to Noussair Mazraoui and André Onana, who can leave on a free transfer. After last season, Brian Brobbey also left on a free transfer, although he later returned on a rental basis from RB Leipzig. If Ajax wants to prevent a transfer-free departure, it seems to have to get rid of Tagliafico. “I have a contract until mid-2023. So I still have a little more than a year to go,” said Daley Blind’s competitor.
Tagliafico says in the interview with TNT Sports in his home country Argentina that he bit off after the failed transfer. “I didn’t get angry, but I made it clear how I felt. You don’t have to keep that to yourself. But it’s over now and we have to focus on the present,” he emphasizes. “There was interest, the clubs spoke to each other, but did not come to an agreement. It was difficult for the club, but I am convinced that it will be easier in June.”
Ajax and Barcelona did not agree on a transfer from Tagliafico. Due to the financial situation, the Catalans could only take over him on a rental basis and then director of football affairs Marc Overmars saw nothing in that. “That disappointed me on the one hand, yes,” said Tagliafico in early February in an interview with the Argentine edition of ASH† “I’ve been with this club for four years and have played with a head injury, goggles, at 70 percent from an ankle injury. They then asked me to play with a swollen ankle and I did, because I’m standing there like that is asked.”
“There were also good opportunities off the field, but I have always thought in the interest of the club,” Tagliafico said at the time. “And now, the moment there comes an opportunity that I can’t refuse, they won’t let me go. I notice that this causes disappointment. I understand the situation is not easy, it was the winter transfer window. This is not a good situation for either of us. They understood me, they told the reasons. But it’s a shame. I feel like this was an opportunity I couldn’t miss. It was a unique opportunity to go to a club like Barcelona.”