Steven Bergwijn has claimed Tottenham boss Antonio Conte apologised to him before his move to Ajax this summer.
The Dutchman returned to his former club earlier this month in a €31.25m deal, bringing an end to a disappointing two-year spell in London.
He had joined Tottenham in a €30m deal from PSV Eindhoven in January 2020 but after a bright start, struggled to establish himself under a succession of managers.
Life under Conte proved to be particularly difficult for Bergwijn, who managed just 397 minutes of action under the Italian following his arrival.
The forward has since spoken about his poor relationship with the Tottenham manager and the grievances he felt in the final few months of his spell with the club.
“When he told the media in the winter break that I was going to be important and he did not want me to go to Ajax, I thought: okay, this is not the moment to argue. Let’s see if it changes,” he told Algemeen Dagblad, relayed by Ajax Showtime.
“You work hard and you play well, but you always get three or four minutes playing time. You don’t want that. It was very frustrating. I’m not the guy you see smiling here all the time.
“I had no bond with Conte. I think we only had one conversation, after the last training of the season.
“I then walked up to the director and said, ‘Listen, I’m not coming back. We’re going to find a solution. I just want to leave’.
“He (Conte) said: ‘Sorry that I didn’t let you play much. We had no cup matches and I really wanted to finish fourth to make it to the Champions League’.
“He chose Harry Kane in the striker’s box. I understood that, but I could also play in other positions. I just didn’t want to get into a ‘yes-no’ situation any more.”
