It’s no secret that Ajax Amsterdam were after Steven Bergwijn during the January transfer window, with some hope a deal could get done right at the very end.
The Dutchman has, for the most part, failed to impress Antonio Conte, and a door was opened by Fabio Paratici and Daniel Levy for the Eredivisie side to sign him, just at the right price.
That was initially €30m, but Ajax Amsterdam never went beyond €22m for the winger, who ultimately stayed in London after Spurs blocked a deal on deadline day with their demands, much to the disappointment of Erik Ten Hag.
The Ajax manager is a staunch admirer of Bergwijn, and never really hid his desire to want to manage him, which he reiterated when speaking to the media, relayed by SoccerNews.
He said about the winger: “We always look around to get better. I would have loved to have had that profile. Then we would have had even more options, even more weapons, because the more weapons, the more successful you can become”.
He then continued: “Bergwijn would have been perfect for us, but for now, we’ll make do with this selection. In the new transfer window, I’ll continue to be interested in a player with such a profile.
“Of course, and Overmars has made no secret of that, we are interested in Bergwijn. I just argued how important he can be to us. We will stick to that. I certainly understand the financial consideration that Ajax has made, but you look at it differently from a sporting point of view.”
The 24-year-old was signed by Tottenham for £27m from PSV Eindhoven back when José Mourinho was in charge, but he has never really managed to get going at the Premier League club.
He has made 66 appearances in all competitions for Spurs, scoring seven goals and assisting another 10.
