Bogdan Lobont signs improved contract until summer 2008
30 October: Bogdan Lobont has signed a new and improved
contract at the Amterdam ArenA today. The Romanian goalkeeper
(25) committed to Ajax until the summer of 2008, an
extension of his old contract by two seasons. "I hope I can
extend my contract again when it expires in 2008", was the
goalkeeper's first reaction. As usual Ajax did not reveal the
financial details of the new contract.
Bogdan Lobont joined Ajax in the summer of 2000, coming from
Romanian top side Rapid Bucharest. He had a rather unlucky
début in Ajax's first team in the Eredivisie away game
at FC Utrecht (26 November 2000): Lobont let in two goals as
Ajax stumbled, 2-1. He spent his first season on the bench, as
the second choice behind Fred Grim. He also suffered from a
persistent wrist injury.
Lobont was loaned out to the city rivals of his former club,
Dinamo Bucharest, in the 2001-2002 season. The goalkeeper,
still a relatively unknown Ajacied in Amsterdam, had an
excellent season as a loanee and won the Romanbian championship
of 2002.
He returned to Amsterdam prior to the 2002-2003 season,
where he first got to know head-coach Ronald Koeman. Koeman had
not made up his mind yet as to which goalkeeper was his first
choice. Both Lobont, Joey Didulica, Maarten
Stekelenburg and AZ loanee Henk Timmer got to play games
in the first team. They all dealt with injuries as well. Later
that season, however, Koeman announced that Lobont was his
goalkeeper of preference from now on.
Bogdan Lobont played 27 Eredivisie games for Ajax, plus
three Amstel Cup fixtures and ten games in the UEFA Champions
League. Lobont is also the number one goalkeeper of
the Romanian national team, for which he played 26 games in
total. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl
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