Wesley Sneijder is interested in succeeding Marc Overmars as director of football affairs at Ajax. The name of the former football player was first mentioned by Johan Derksen on Friday evening as a potential new director in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Four days later, Sneijder added RTL7 that he has not been approached directly, but he does invite Ajax to come closer.
“Have I been polled? Not really, not directly,” Sneijder responds to Humberto Tan’s question, prior to the Champions League matches that he analyzes in the studio. “But I would be open to it.” However, Sneijder would like to have support. “Ajax is a large company, but perhaps as a billboard.” The former midfielder is pleased with the work his predecessors have done. “If you look at what Ajax has achieved in the past five years, Marc has been responsible for that.”
Derksen: ‘I think Sneijder has the ambition to succeed Overmars’
On Friday, Wesley Sneijder was named as a possible new director of Ajax at VI Today.
“He has also managed things because he comes from football. Then the doors open more easily, that’s just the way it is. Maybe I would like that in that role, but with someone next to me who can lift me up in business would help,” said Sneijder. “You can’t do it alone. You need someone who sits next to you and who you can spar with. But they don’t have to explain anything to me about the football technical part and the surrounding matters.”
Sneijder stopped the KNVB trainer course in November last year. “I see myself more as a manager than a real field trainer,” he said at the time. A management position is indeed what he now aspires to. “I have also tried it in the past at FC Den Bosch. That did not work out in the end. I have tried a lot, including coaching and agentship, but I think I eventually want to go in this direction. So they can approach me.”
Wesley Sneijder about position at Ajax: “They can approach me.” pic.twitter.com/ch6OGQHnLD
— VTBL ? (@vtbl) February 15, 2022
Sneijder does not have to count on a warm welcome from the entire supporters when he returns to Amsterdam. The F-Side declared him ‘persona non grata’ in the summer of 2020, because after his career he frequently associated with FC Utrecht, the club from his hometown. Sneijder didn’t seem to care and posted a video on Instagram in which he drove past the Johan Cruijff ArenA, while he played the song. Utereg my town by Herman Berkien sang along. In doing so, he added even more fuel to the fire.