Henk Spaan is critical of the alleged role of Susan Lenderink in possibly letting the transfer of Steven Bergwijn fail. In the journalist’s view, the financial director of Ajax should have given director of football affairs Marc Overmars the means to take over the wing attacker from Tottenham Hotspur. According to Spaan, Lenderink was too busy with the numbers and the chance is now small that the the Dutch international will return to Amsterdam. Bergwijn attended Ajax’s youth academy between 2005 and 2011.
“Instead of listening to Overmars and attracting Erik ten Hag and Bergwijn at an earlier stage, she looked too much at the numbers,” says Spaan in his column in The Parool about Lenderink. “Dusan Tadic and Daley Blind, the big earners at Ajax, have no residual value. Bergwijn, which cost about 23 to 24 million euros before Wednesday, could be sold to Ajax for at least double after two years.”
Spaan refers to the leading role that Berwijn played last Wednesday in the match between Leicester City and Tottenham Hotspur. The ex-PSV player came on the field in minute 79 and with goals in minutes 95 and 97, he turned a 2-1 deficit into a 2-3 victory. “The financial director did not listen to the technical people and dropped the deal. A day later, Bergwijn, who single-handedly took three points for Tottenham, was worth ten million euros more.”
“You can blame the opportunism of the football world, you can also calculate the opportunism,” Spaan said. Antonio Conte does not intend to let Bergwijn leave for Ajax. “He is an important player for me and for us because he has qualities that we don’t have many in our squad,” said the Tottenham manager after the miraculous break in Leicester. “He is very good in one-on-one duels and can play out a man. He can play in the attack, but also as number ten. We build the strongest team possible and become weaker when he leaves. .”
Conte foresees an important role for Bergwijn. “If Steven is in top shape, he can start in the starting line-up or be decisive as a substitute. I think he’s happy here and wants to keep playing for Tottenham.” Bergwijn, for whom Ajax would have offered eighteen million euros in vain, said last Wednesday after his star role the Foxes nothing about his future.