Marc Overmars thinks that Ajax’s luxury problem on the right will ‘solve itself’. The director of football affairs of the Amsterdam club does not intend to get rid of Antony after a year and emphasizes that he has not heard anything formally from Bayern Munich. That means that Erik ten Hag may soon have Antony, David Neres and summer acquisition Steven Berghuis on the right.
“It is true that we are now well occupied in that position with Antony, Neres and Berghuis. But that will resolve itself, I think,” says Overmars Football International. “It doesn’t have to be difficult, because then Neres is the one who will look further. I expect something to happen there, even though it is quiet now. I know he would like to take that step. But yes, that category of clubs, that remains to be seen.”
“He could go to China two and a half years ago, for more than forty million euros, but I don’t regret that at all,” Overmars emphasizes. Guangzhou Evergrande came in the winter of 2018-19 with an offer of, reportedly, fifty million euros for the Brazil international. Ajax chose not to sell the attacker and he accepted the board’s position. The club then won the double and narrowly missed the Champions League final.
“That also brought us that wonderful year,” explains Overmars. “He scored the decisive goal against PSV and scored important goals against Real Madrid and Juventus. That wouldn’t have happened if we had sold it for fifty million in December. We always go for the sporty. This was also the choice then. If the now x amount gets less, then so be it. We always go for the sporty story.”
Neres, 24, signed a new contract in August 2019 until the summer of 2023. The counter stands at 43 hits in 158 matches in all competitions.