‘We wanted him’: Director explains why he failed to sign £20m Spurs ace

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Ajax director Marc Overmars says he wanted Steven Bergwijn but Premier League giants Tottenham Hotspur were demanding too much, speaking to Ajax TV.

Ajax’s interest in the Dutch international, Overmars admits, was ‘no secret’. You can say that again.

This was a transfer saga played out in public, for all to see. It’s well documented that the reigning Eredivisie champions failed with an initial bid of £15 million for a winger who tore the league apart during a terrific spell at PSV Eindhoven (Times).

Spurs wanted £20 million for Bergwijn.

And following two years of financial uncertainly brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic – Eredivisie clubs have had to make do without supporters again recently following the rise of Omicron – Ajax were in no position to meet Tottenham’s demands.

“That’s no secret. We wanted to have him at Ajax for now and also for the future,” Overmars says, translated by Voetbal Primeur.

Does Steven Bergwijn have a future at Tottenham?

Ajax did succeed in bringing former academy graduate Brian Brobbey back to Amsterdam after a difficult spell at RB Leipzig. But Brobbey’s recent injury has left Erik Ten Hag lacking a bit of pace in the final third.

“(Our Bergwijn interest) was also related to Brian Brobbey’s injury. We wanted speed in the team and Brobbey has that. But if he is gone, you have to work with that,” Overmars adds.

“You have to remain realistic. All clubs have had two tough years. We, as management, did not think it was right (to pay such a big fee).”

Ajax did pay a record £20 million to sign Sebastien Haller from West Ham United 12 months ago. But, this time around, there was to be no repeat of such an outlay.

“Normally I have no problem with (big fees) and that was fine with Haller last year. But now, the time is just a bit uncertain,” Overmars concludes.

“It’s no secret that we’ve been working on Bergwijn.”

It will be interesting to see whether Ajax return for Bergwijn in the summer. There are still doubts about whether he fits into Antonio Conte’s 3-4-2-1 system, despite that 80 second brace against Leicester City recently.