Erik ten Hag does not know whether Ajax will lose even more key players after Hakim Ziyech and Donny van de Beek. There is a chance that players like André Onana and Nicolás Tagliafico will still leave this transfer window, but it is expected that the two will ‘only’ be there on Sunday during the season attack against Sparta Rotterdam. Ten Hag knows that a club like Ajax can always lose its best players.

In an interview with Ajax TV the coach is confronted with the fact that the entire midfield of the successful 2018/19 season, consisting of Frenkie de Jong, Lasse Schöne and Van de Beek, has since been gone. “This is Ajax,” Ten Hag knows. “There will be another midfield that can be just as successful, but for that we have to work hard.” However, the coach adds that he does not want to see players leave the transfer window in the final phase.

“As a coach, as a club, we have to say that no one can leave”, he agrees. “It’s in our head and we’ve made agreements with players about it.” Ten Hag makes no statements about the content of the agreements, but it appears that Ajax have recorded the date until which players can leave. “We have all the respect and appreciation for their wishes, but in the end we also have to think of ourselves. If we want a successful team again? Then it can not be the case that strong people leave at the last minute”, explains he. The transfer window runs until October 5th.

Ten Hag also says he has not yet said goodbye to Van de Beek, who completed his transfer to Manchester United earlier this month. “The official moment when I could look him in the eye was not there yet,” he says. “The final transition was when he was with the Dutch national team. We still had contact and can look back on a pleasant and very successful collaboration. We did a lot of good things together. He belongs to a team that is in the head “He wrote history with that team. He’s going to a great club and we wish him every success.”