Wednesday, February 9, 2022 at 07:02• Last update: 07:06

Maarten Stekelenburg’s rehabilitation is taking more time than expected and hoped. The 39-year-old goalkeeper of Ajax is recovering from a serious hip injury and it remains to be seen whether he will return to the shirt of the team from Amsterdam. At the hospital, the damage to his hip turned out to be more serious than expected. Stekelenburg, who has an expiring contract with Ajax, has been successfully operated on and all damage has been repaired, he says on the club site.

The operation that Stekelenburg had to face in the autumn was extremely inconvenient for him. The goalkeeper had earned his place under the bar at Ajax after André Onana’s doping suspension, but was forced to relinquish it to Remko Pasveer. “At first I was especially happy to return to Ajax”, he refers to his return to Amsterdam. “In the end I was also allowed to go goalkeeper. At that time I was not thinking about the Dutch national team yet. When I was with the Dutch at the end of the season, I started to hope for the European Championship. The tournament was very special, that’s where I am very proud of it. The result was only a little less.”

The the Dutch squad was stranded in the eighth finals against the Czech Republic and in the aftermath, Stekelenburg also injured his hip and groin. In October it was announced that the goalkeeper was forced to go under the knife and could possibly put a line through the remainder of the season. “In the hospital they found out that there was a lot of damage in my hip. There was no point in continuing. They were able to repair everything that had broken. It is now going in the right direction. It will be very difficult to continue this season. to get fit. I will do everything I can, but it will be a difficult story. And that is very sour.”

Stekelenburg’s position has now been successfully filled by Remko Pasveer. The latter only conceded five goals in the Eredivisie this season and makes an extremely solid impression. The question is whether Stekelenburg will return to Ajax with his contract expiring. “That is also one of the reasons that I want to rehabilitate at Ajax,” says Stekelenburg. “You should ask them whether I really contribute to the other goalkeepers. Remko Pasveer is doing excellent now. Just look at the number of goals that Ajax had to deal with.”