Ki-Jana Hoever played for Ajax between 2008 and 2018, before leaving the team from Amsterdam behind for England. He joined Wolverhampton Wanderers a year ago via Liverpool. Hoever tells in conversation with Football International why he chose to leave Ajax, despite being offered a contract.
Hoever hoped to be moved up early to the Under-19 when he was 17, as did his peers Sontje Hansen and Kenneth Taylor. However, Ajax did not agree to this and felt that he should first play in the Under-17 for six months, after which it was reconsidered whether he could make the step to the Under-19. “That was too slow for me. I wasn’t thinking about the first one at all, I wanted to go to the Under-19 as soon as possible.”
“I was surprised that I was offered a contract by Ajax, because I had the feeling for some time that I was not appreciated how I thought I should be valued. The fact that I made my debut in Liverpool 1 six months later also says that I was ready for the Under-19 of Ajax, I think”, Hoever continues. The 19-year-old defender has played four games for Liverpool’s main squad and has made 17 appearances for Wolverhampton Wanderers so far.
Hoever likes that his former teammates Jurriën Timber and Devyne Rensch have finally made their debut in Ajax’s first. “Of course you have sometimes wondered: what would have happened if I had stayed at Ajax? Where would I be then? I made that choice once when I was 16 and it was the best thing for my development at that time. I have never regretted it for a moment. In retrospect you can say that if I had stayed with Ajax, I would now be competing with Mazraoui or whoever. You do not know.”
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