The champion team of Ajax has remained intact for the time being and with Steven Berghuis Erik ten Hag has even received a quality injection, although that may not be the last reinforcement of the Amsterdam club. According to Mike Verweij, Ajax can still spend fifteen million euros on purchases on the transfer market. “If director of football affairs Marc Overmars really wants to transfer to Steven Bergwijn, then more money will have to be earned on the transfer market,” says the journalist from The Telegraph.
Rumors about Ajax’s interest in Bergwijn are not new. Already when the the Dutch international came out for PSV wrote The Telegraph frequently about alleged Amsterdam interest, although Ajax never made an offer as far as we know. In May, Verweij expressed the expectation that Overmars will try to get rid of Bergwijn this summer and last week he put the attacker forward as an alternative to Kamaldeen Sulemana, who eventually signed with Stade Rennes. However, Nuno Espírito Santo, the new coach of Tottenham Hotspur, would not want to lose the Dutchman.
It is questionable whether Ajax will earn money from the football players who in principle are allowed to leave with a good offer. According to Verweij, it is ‘deafeningly quiet’ around Nicolás Tagliafico and David Neres and the difference between supply and demand regarding André Onana remains over five million euros: Ajax wants at least ten million euros for the keeper, while Olympique Lyon five million euros has bid.
Verweij notes that Ajax may therefore still give in with a possible higher bid from Stade Rennes for Édson Álvarez. The French club’s first offer of eighteen million euros was brushed aside by Overmars. “It will therefore be interesting to see how loud the ‘no’ continues to sound. ( . . . ) Is it justified for Ajax to refuse even more money if Rennes comes back with an increased offer? Threatens a Nicolai Jorgensentje, who could go to Newcastle United for seventeen million euros, but was kept by his contract by Feyenoord?”
Verweij bases the transfer budget of at least fifteen million euros on the certainty of participation in the group stage of the Champions League. That is good for 40 million euros in guaranteed income. The (postponed) transfer fees for Lassina Traoré, Razvan Marin, Kjell Scherpen and Noa Lang are windfalls and can also be partly used for reinforcements, Verweij writes.