Ajax could earn £34 million if they sell Steven Bergwijn to Saudi Arabia just one year after the Dutch international joined from Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur.
If winger’s rather disappointing debut season at Ajax in 2022/23 could largely be forgiven – he was, after all, joining a club in transition and following a year spent twiddling his thumbs on the bench at Tottenham Hotspur – but there is certainly nowhere for Steven Bergwijn to hide these days.
Following the departures of many first-team players over the summer, Bergwijn is not only an experienced head in a youthful Ajax dressing room, he is also the captain these days. Inheriting the armband from the iconic Dusan Tadic.
As such, with Ajax bottom of the table and struggling to escape a hole of their own making, Bergwijn is becoming a lightning rod for criticism, his fourth goal of a miserable season little more than a consolation during Sunday’s 5-2 thumping at PSV Eindhoven.
Steven Bergwijn has struggled since Tottenham exit
Speculation suggesting that the Dutchman’s head has been turned, somewhat, by a money-spinning offer from Saudi Arabian outfit Al-Ettifaq has done little to boost his popularity among an irate fanbase, meanwhile.
“They want money for him,” seasoned Eredivisie reporter Valentijn Driessen tells Veronica Inside. “They hope to sell him for forty million euros.”
A £34 million sale would see make a near-£10 million profit on a player they signed from Tottenham just a year ago. Excellent business, at least from a financial perspective, when you consider how Bergwijn has performed during a difficult second spell in the Eredivisie, the out-of-form forward yet to replicate the twinkle-toed brilliance which made him arguably the division’s stand-out attacker at PSV Eindhoven.
‘Very disappointing’
“In attack, Steven Bergwijn is very disappointing,” Ajax legend Wim Kieft saida couple of weeks ago.
“Bergwijn is now 25-years-old. He has had an adventure in the Premier League. So you can expect more than what he has shown at Ajax so far. Demand even more.
“He has it in him, but you don’t see it at all at Ajax. He lacks the will and drive to give everything to get the best out of himself. Bergwijn has to think about himself.”
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