Chivu finally signs new contract

13 Mar: After months of rumours and speculation, Cristian Chivu finally agreed with Ajax on changing the terms of his contract. The contract has been extended by a year and will now last until July 2006. Chivu is said to be very pleased with his new contract: "I hope we can keep this young and promising team together for a long time."

Technical Manager Beenhakker was of course also very pleased. "In a very short time Cristian developed into one of the key players for Ajax," Beenhakker stated. "We didn't foresee that he would develop that quickly. It's good for Ajax and for Dutch soccer that we managed to keep such a talent for a longer period."

Chivu (20) has played 44 matches for Ajax in which he scored 6 times. The Romanian international played 14 matches for his country and scored once during EURO 2000. In August 1999 he joined Ajax, moving from his former club Universitatea Craiova. (BV)

(source: Ajax.nl)