Heerenveen move for Youssouf Hersi
23 June: Ajax midfielder Youssouf Hersi (21) will play for
northern Eredivisie outfit SC Heerenveen for the next three
seasons. Hersi spent the last
three seasons on loan at NAC Breda (2001-2002)
and NEC (2002-2004). His Ajax deal would have expired on 30
June 2005. The financial details of the transfer remain
undisclosed as usual, however Dutch football weekly
Voetbal International reports that the deal
between the clubs is an unusual one: Ajax reportedly
'sold' the player to Heerenveen for a percentage of the fee
Heerenveen will receive for a future Hersi sale.
Hersi, a Dutchman of Ethiopian origins, is a product of the
Ajax youth system. He was regarded as a major talent and made
his début in the first squad in November 2000,
at age 18. He had eight official Ajax-1 appearances, but
was deemed not entirely ready for a slot in Ajax's first team.
For that reason he was loaned out to NAC Breda in
July 2001. After one season in Breda he moved on to NEC.
For the Nijmegen side Hersi played 61 official games, in which
he scored 19 goals.
This summer Ajax decided not to extend the loan deals
of players whose Ajax contracts will expire next summer,
intending to sell them this summer and receive a transfer fee
for them. Several loanees, including Kiran Bechan (Sparta
Rotterdam), Richard Knopper (SC Heerenveen), Nourdin Boukhari
(NAC Breda), Kwame Quansah (AIK Solna, Sweden), Petri Pasanen
(Portsmouth), are due at the ArenA in July to go in training
with Young Ajax if they fail to find a buyer this summer. The
club made clear that there is no future in Ajax-1 for these
players, most of whom had a modest number of first team
appearances for Ajax. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, SC Heerenveen.nl, VI.nl
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