Thursday, May 27, 2021 at 4:48 PM• Dominic Mostert • Last update: 16:58

Brighton & Hove Albion is approaching an agreement with Ajax on the arrival of Kjell Scherpen, it reports The Telegraph Thursday afternoon. The intended transfer fee is said to be around five million euros. The upcoming transfer is striking, as PEC Zwolle had already reached an agreement with Ajax about renting Scherpen for a season. Brighton reported later, after which Ajax decided to cooperate with a definitive transfer.

Everything seemed in jugs and pitchers: Scherpen would be rented out to PEC and serve as successor to Xavier Mous, whose contract was not renewed. Until the Algemeen Dagblad reported that Brighton & Hove Albion was prepared to take over Scherpen from Ajax permanently and would already be negotiating with the team from Amsterdam. PEC technical manager Mike Willems denied Thursday opposite The Stentor that something went wrong in the negotiations with Ajax. “Nothing went wrong there. There is still a chance that he will come. The ball is with Ajax.”

The fact that Ajax is willing to get rid of Scherpen for good cannot be seen in isolation from the developments surrounding Jay Gorter. The team from Amsterdam want to take him over from Go Ahead Eagles, but have temporarily halted negotiations due to a high asking price. Ajax wants to attract Gorter, who kept a record 25 times a zero in the Kitchen Champion Division, as goalkeeper for Young Ajax. There he becomes Scherpen’s replacement. In the A selection, Remko Pasveer and Maarten Stekelenburg have to fight it out. André Onana is also under contract with Ajax, but he has been suspended for twelve months for the use of the banned substance furosemide.

Scherpen signed a contract with Ajax in 2019 until mid-2023. In his first season he defended the goal of Young Ajax. The following season also, but on December 16, 2020, in the cup match against FC Utrecht, he made his debut in the first. Last month, his debut for Ajax in the Eredivisie against sc Heerenveen followed and a few days later Scherpen made his debut in the Europa League against AS Roma due to the suspension of Onana and an injury from Stekelenburg.