Ajax star Mohamed Kudus has insisted he was keen to join Everton in the summer, but won’t be pushing for a move in January.
The midfielder turned forward was targeted by Everton towards the end of the window, with Frank Lampard keen to add forward options to his limited squad.
Reports in England made it clear that a loan deal was agreed with a reasonable purchase price included, boldly stating that a deal was almost complete.
This was quickly rejected in the Netherlands, where it was made clear that there was no such deal in place, Everton had not made a bid and Kudus would not be moving anyway.
The Toffees did eventually make a formal offer, which was swiftly rejected by the Dutch giants, prompting Kudus to go on strike, as other players had done earlier in the window, in an attempt to secure the move to Goodison Park.
Ajax refused to relent and he instead stayed at the club, establishing himself back in the first team with a series of impressive performances in Ajax’s ultimately doomed Champions League campaign.
Talk of a move in January has started to pick up pace but the player insists he “absolutely” wants to finish the season at Ajax instead.
“Ehm, of course things changed after that,” he told Algemeen Dagblad.
“Especially that I started playing more. I believe that if – and we never know for sure – I had been given that chance, things could also have gone well or better.
“That’s how I felt at the time. I wanted to try something new. That’s normal in football. We all want to play. And if you don’t play, you have to look further to be able to do that.
“I am a player who likes to challenge himself. This is my third season here. We’ll see what the future brings. The most important thing is that I just keep performing for the team and the rest will follow naturally later.
“No, I don’t think so. I don’t think so (a move in January.)”
