Justin Kluivert has revealed he won’t renew his contract with Ajax after expressing his frustration towards the Dutch club for trying to sell him to Tottenham Hotspur without his knowledge.
The 19-year-old’s current deal at the Johan Cruyff Arena expires in June 2019. A failure from Ajax to cash in from his sale this summer could see him leave the club on a free transfer next summer.
Tottenham signed Davinson Sanchez from Ajax in the 2017 summer window, and at some point Kluivert came into the equation.
The youngster has criticised the decision makers at Ajax and even suggested the Eredivisie club only wanted him to sign a new deal so they could earn more money from his sale.
“I heard that [about Ajax trying to sell me to Tottenham] at the last minute. That says nothing about Ajax, but about the people in the club. Somewhere, I was laughing. You see how the football world works,” Kluivert told Volkstrant.
“I have been playing at Ajax all my life, they could have known where my potential lies Ajax wants me to extend my contract so that they can ask more money. What do they really want?
“My plan was to stay, but a lot has happened lately. The public thinks that it is only about money, while everyone knows that I was right. I was not waiting for money at all. Football is important. I want to develop myself.”
Ajax have provided Volkstrant with a written response to the Tottenham claims: ‘In the conversations with Spurs about Sanchez there was a lateral discussion about Justin. Spurs’ proposal was that he would then play in Amsterdam for another two years and that he would then go to Spurs. We did not go further on that, because we wanted to renew the contract with Justin. Just like we want to now.’
Kluivert found about the Tottenham talks via Mino Raiola, and has explained why he chose the agent: “I wanted someone from outside the situation with my parents. I had to keep family affairs outside of my relationship with Ajax. Sometimes I take advice from my parents, sometimes not. My father says I’d be better staying, but he also said that he is 100% behind my choice.”
This certainly seems a complicated situation, and one where in a lot of the stories pushed to the Dutch media Kluivert has been presented as being led astray by Raiola.
But, as seems to be the situation all too often, not everything seems perfect off the pitch at Ajax, and it’s not too hard to believe there’s some truth in what the young footballer is saying.
Kluivert won’t renew and, from his perspective, will either leave Ajax this summer or go on a free next year.
