DBasia.news – Ajax Amsterdam CEO, Edwin van der Sar said that his club would not sell their star players at low prices amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
After having a mediocre year, Ajax finally returned to being a major force in the 2018/19 season, with coach Erik ten Hag leading one of the most promising young squads in European football.
The Amsterdam-based club won two domestic trophies last season and made it to the Champions League semi-finals before being eliminated by Tottenham Hotspur.
Unfortunately, their two key players, Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong decided to leave the Eradivisie competition.
Matthijs de Ligt moved to Juventus with a value of 75 million euros (around Rp1, 18 trillion), while Barcelona secured the services of Frankie de Jong with an initial price of 75 million euros. The departure of the two players had an impact on their declining performance in domestic and European competitions.
Ajax were eliminated from the Champions League in the group stages this season and lost in the KNVB Cup semifinals, they also failed to maintain their dominance in the Eredivisie.
Ten Hag’s squad did not win the Eradivisie when the season was halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic in April, despite being top of the league on goal difference and likely to lose more key players when the transfer window opens.
Their attacking midfielder, Hakim Ziyech is scheduled to join Chelsea in February and will meet with his new team-mates at Stamford Bridge next month, while Manchester United and Real Madrid are reportedly preparing to launch bids for midfielder, Van de Beek.
Cameroon national team goalkeeper, Andre Onana and left back, Nicolas Tagliafico are also expected to leave Ajax this summer, but Van der Sar said no player would leave unless club football director, Marc Overmars gave the green light.
“We know the players have the ambition to head to a better competition after a few years, but this will only happen with the agreement of Marc Overmars and Ajax,” Edwin van der Sar told Dutch media, NoS as reported by Goal on Monday (08/6) .
“There will always be those who benefit from the crisis and some clubs have to sell (players) at a lower price, but I think we are in a lucky position thanks to our strong financial policies.”
“Therefore we do not have to sell, but we managed to make an agreement with the players,” added the former Manchester United goalkeeper.
“We will not release our players for a discounted price. We prefer to keep them here.”