Kenneth Perez believes Ajax should be wary of paying a big fee for Tottenham Hotspur’s Premier League benchwarmer Steven Bergwijn, speaking to ESPN’s Voetbal Talk.
According to The Times, Ajax failed with an opening bid of £15 million this week.
Bergwijn might not have set the world alight since joining Spurs from PSV Eindhoven two years ago – this latest Eredivisie export proving to be more Matija Kezman than Luis Suarez – but Tottenham are still hoping to recoup as much of their £27 million outlay as possible.
That, however, may be wishful thinking.
Bergwijn has scored a grand total of two goals in his last 57 games for the North London giants after all.
Hardly a record befitting a man with a near £30 million price-tag on his head.
Ajax, the club where Bergwijn started his career before moving on to arch rivals PSV, are expected to make a new bid for the 24-year-old Dutch international in the coming days.
And David Neres’ impending move to Shakhtar Donetsk appears to have opened up a place in Erik Ten Hag’s squad for a man with a point to prove.
Will Tottenham sell Steven Bergwijn back to Ajax?
“I don’t think he’s a very good player,” says Perez, who had two spells at the Johan Cruyff Arena a decade ago, translated by Voetbal Primeur.
“I don’t know whether Ajax can really do anything with him. The positions where he can play have more or less already been occupied.”
Some have suggested that Bergwijn could replace the masterful Antony in the Dutch capital. The buccaneering Brazilian has been linked with Bayern Munich, amongst others.
But if Bergwijn is a something of old-school winger, all acceleration and energy, Antony is cut from a completely different cloth.
Furthermore, he is more comfortable on the right-hand side, cutting in onto his favoured foot with devastating effect.
Bergwijn, meanwhile, is at his most effective on the left.
“If you have a supporting role at Tottenham, which given his qualities is understandable, then do you want to play a bigger role at your next club?,” Perez asks.
“Maybe (he could sign) because Antony may be sold, but Bergwijn is a completely different player.”
The former Denmark international believes that Ajax would be over-paying substantially if they forked out around £25 million, insisting that Bergwijn is worth ‘not even half’ of such a fee.
“But I’m not the one who talks about that at Ajax,” he adds. “I don’t see him as a player who can take you a lot further. Fortunately for Bergwijn, they think differently at Ajax.”
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