West Ham United’s pursuit for Joel Veltman didn’t really get a lot of attention in the summer. Although two Dutch outlets reported the interest, the story didn’t last long enough to become a saga.
It even seemed like the 27-year-old wanted to leave Ajax in the transfer window, but the Dutch side were never really keen on letting him go.
And it turns out West Ham’s interest in signing him was real, at least according to Veltman himself. He’s spoken to local outlets this Friday, and made it pretty clear that some clubs wanted to take him this summer.
“Everyone knows that I would like to play abroad again”, he said via NOS. “West Ham United were interested, but there were more clubs. However, Ajax put a stop to it. I wasn’t allowed to leave”.
Veltman says this was not the first time he was expecting to leave Ajax: “I also wanted to leave in 2018, but then I got injured. I started my eighteenth season here, but I’m still good, though”.
He also smiled when talking about the Dutch side working to keep him again: “Maybe I did too well at the end of last season”.
The right-back has started all of Ajax’s eight games this season, so it’s no wonder why they don’t want to lose a player of such importance.
