Wednesday’s edition of De Telegraaf reported Ajax hoped to have Siem de Jong back at the club ‘within 48 hours’.
The Dutch newspaper made a big deal out of De Jong giving up better financial offers elsewhere. Not only is the player paid more at Newcastle United than he’d get at Ajax, it was claimed he’d also turned down a much better financial offer from Reading.
There’s probably some truth in that but with De Telegraaf increasingly seeming a PR arm of Ajax, the actual size of financial ‘sacrifice’ may be exaggerated, especially with no figures shared.
In their Thursday edition, De Telegraaf quote Ajax manager Marcel Keizer confirming talks on the Newcastle transfer have been ongoing. Keizer himself has been speaking to De Jong, and explained: “He is an Ajacied (De Jong came through the Ajax academy), so it’ll be easy to adjust.
“I wanted to know how his preseason had gone, how fit he is and how his mental condition is. And Siem wanted to hear a few things from me. How we train, what we are doing and how the selection works.”
De Telegraaf say: ‘Once Ajax has reached agreement with Newcastle United on the transfer fee, the transition is a matter of time.’
Ajax will want to get that amount as low as possible. Despite receiving a big transfer fee for Davinson Sanchez, the club aren’t going to flex the chequebook too much, and Newcastle, just like De Jong, may have got more from Reading.
For the 48 hours hope from Wednesday to be fulfilled, Ajax are going to have to work quickly. A Newcastle deal over or after the weekend is looking likelier.
