Ajax made a mistake not signing Steven Bergwijn from Tottenham Hotspur in the January transfer window, and it could cost them manager Erik Ten Hag.
That’s according to journalist Henk Spaan, who says the failure to get a deal over the line could convince the sought-after Dutch boss to leave.
Bergwijn was heavily linked with a move away from Tottenham throughout January, having found himself down the pecking order under Antonio Conte.
He’s struggled to replicate his best form since a £27m move from PSV Eindhoven in January 2020, with just seven goals and ten assists in 76 games for the club so far.
A move back to the Netherlands has been heavily mooted for a while, and Ajax are known to be keen, with them planning for the future and potential exits, particularly this summer.
They tried to get him throughout January, and despite struggling to get a deal done with Tottenham, it’s been established they remain keen ahead of the summer transfer window.
Whether they can get a deal done remains to be seen, but according to Spaan, it was a major mistake to not get the deal done earlier.
“Was it Overmars who gave up the fight with his financial director, or was it Susan Lenderink herself who stopped the negotiations with Levy of Spurs?” he wrote in his column for Het Parool.
“It was a mistake for sure. It is not very unlikely that Ajax would have won with Bergwijn from Benfica, who had already recouped half of his transfer fee.
“A few figures from Bergwijn Saturday night: he shot three times between the posts, of which he hit twice, won three duels, had two key passes and two successful dribbles.
“The fact that Ajax could not/would not bring him in will not encourage Ten Hag to stay.”
