Newcastle United’s interest in Marc Overmars caused ‘blind panic’ within Ajax’s supervisory board, writes The Telegraph. It leaked out on Tuesday evening that the director of football affairs will extend his contract in Amsterdam until mid-2026. After extending his contract, Overmars will in any case earn more at Ajax.
The supervisory board feared that Ajax would be ‘technically beheaded’ if Overmars made the crossing to the ambitious Newcastle United. Overmars’ previous contract included a three-month notice period and he himself would have been interested in a move to England. Overmars was therefore three days after The Telegraph reported that Newcastle United was specifically interested – on the day of Ajax’s 5-0 home match against PSV – summoned to the supervisory board.
#Ajax Accidentally posts a video about contract extension Marc #overmars until 2026 and delete it again. Director confirms upcoming extension. pic.twitter.com/SuZpMLmoQB
— Mike Verweij (@MikeVerweij) December 7, 2021
In that conversation, Overmars confessed that there was contact with Newcastle United and that he felt ‘financially undervalued’ at Ajax. The Telegraph writes that Overmars earned a fixed gross annual salary of 413,000 euros, to which an annual bonus of 250,000 euros and ‘some holiday money’ was added. The newspaper calls the total gross annual salary of 696,000 euros ‘more than a minister’s salary’, but a fraction of what a technical person with ultimate responsibility can receive abroad.
A few days later, the supervisory board ‘begged’ Overmars in a second meeting to stay with Ajax and in order to achieve this, it was decided to grant ‘a large part of his (financial) wishes’. Overmars therefore decided to cancel a meeting with Newcastle United in London and to sign a new contract with Ajax. After Barcelona, Arsenal and Manchester United, Newcastle United were the fourth club to enlist the services of Overmars.
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