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"Bye bye, Zlatan...": Ajax star joins Juventus

31 August: After a day full of confusing reports Ajax have now officially confirmed the sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic to Juventus. Contrary to their habit the Amsterdam club also revealed the transfer fee the Italian giants will pay for the Swede: 16 million euros, to be paid in five annual installments. Ibrahimovic signed a four year deal in Turin, after having been an Ajacied for three seasons. The transfer was finalized two hours before the closing of the UEFA transfer window.

Ajax failed to sign a successor. An agreement was reached with Roda JC about the transfer of Arouna Koné. The Ivorian striker, however, did not pass Ajax's medical tests, after which the club adopted the negative advice of the medical staff.

Ibrahimovic's departure, as well as the unexpectedly low transfer fee, outraged thousands of Ajax supporters in The Netherlands. The busiest Ajax discussion forum on the internet, that of Ajax Netwerk, was 'down' all evening, as hundreds of angry posts could not be processed by the server. Fan outrage over the fact that Ajax did eventually not keep its squad together for another season, and the fact that the club was willing to negotiate on the last day of the transfer period, is overwhelming almost every unofficial Ajax website.

The transfer

The affair started as Ibrahimovic's personal agent, Mino Raiola, announced on 25 August that AS Roma were going to submit a "serious bid" for the striker. Raiola underscored that the bid was not even close to 45 million euros, the sum for which Zlatan was allowed to leave at any time, according to a special clause in his contract, but "substantial enough to be forwarded to Ajax." The Amsterdam club, however, was never contacted by Roma.

Four days later, on the evening of 30 August and after Ajax coach Ronald Koeman had repeated during the day that he expected Ibrahimovic to stay, the AS Roma story appeared to be a 'smoke screen', put up by Raiola for the sole purpose of sounding out the actual price for which Ajax would want to let the player go. That same evening Raiola announced that Ajax representatives were talking to a delegation of a "new club, a club that has not recently been linked with Zlatan." The press soon reported that this club was Juventus, Ibrahimovic's 'dream club'. Raiola announced that there was a "95% chance that Zlatan will leave Ajax before tomorrow morning." Ajax, meanwhile, confirmed that they were talking to Juventus and Arie van Eijden stated that it was "very serious".

The departure of the striker was reported as news by esteemed Dutch news sources such as NOS Teletekst, Studio Sport, football magazine Voetbal International and several national newspapers this morning (Tuesday 31 August): Ibrahimovic had agreed to the terms of a four year contract and Ajax and Juventus had agreed in principle on the transfer fee, which was at that point reported to be somwhere between 15 and 18 million euros. Later that morning Raiola flew to Turin to finalize the deal. Zlatan remained in Amsterdam.

In the afternoon, as the media reports started focusing on Zlatan's successor (Roda JC's Arouna Koné, possibly in a 'swap deal' with Yannis Anastasiou), the official website of Voetbal International magazine unexpectedly reported that "the chance that deal will fall through is bigger than the chance that the final problems will be ironed out." It appeared that Juventus, who finished the 2003-2004 season with a 20 million euro deficit, were unable to produce the bank guarantees Ajax demanded before the closing of the transfer window at midnight. Ajax's demands were said to be extraordinarily strict after the club's negative experiences with AS Roma in the summer of 2003. As time ticked away, Juventus insisted that Zlatan Ibrahimovic would be flown to Turin immediately, so that he could undergo his medical tests before the closing of the headquarters of the Italian football association at 7:00 PM local time.

While Zlatan underwent his 'medical' in Turin, the negotiations were still in a crisis. The transfer was highly uncertain until Juventus finally submitted the required bank guarantees at 22:15 PM. The Italian football association would normally have already closed its doors at that hour, but made an exception for Juventus. At 22:15 PM Zlatan Ibrahimovic officially left the Sons Of God to become a player of the Old Lady of Turin. The transfer window of the UEFA closed 105 minutes later, too soon for Ajax to land a replacement. A report on Juventus.com, meanwhile, made clear that Ajax had once again accepted payment in installments: 3 million euros will be paid immediately, 3 million on 31 August 2005, 3 million on 31 August 2006, 3 million on 31 August 2007 and the remaining 4 million on 31 August 2008. After deduction of taxes, a percentage of the fee for Zlatan's former club Malmö FF and a correction for inflation, Ajax will have received 15 million euros for the player.

Ajax chairman John Jaakke told newspaper Het Parool: "Not everything goes the way you'd want it to go. Sometimes a process is irreversible once it's put in motion. In such cases you can not turn to Ibrahimovic and tell him: You must come back and play ADO Den Haag next week. The signatures had not been put on paper yet, but in his mind Zlatan was already gone."

Press and supporters, meanwhile, do not accept that explanation and wonder why Ajax were so eager to negotiate on the last day of the transfer period and why they allowed Ibrahimovic to go for a transfer fee of only 35% of the fee put down in his contract. Almost every news source in The Netherlands sees a link with the incidents during and after the international friendly between Sweden and The Netherlands on 18 August, in which Rafaël van der Vaart was hit on the ankle by Ibrahimovic and had to be replaced. Van der Vaart was furious about that fact that Ibrahimovic had not come to see him after the match and suggested on TV that Ibrahimovic had injured him on purpose. He also stated that "that bloke has got a screw loose."

Although both players talked and officially made peace in a private conversation with Ajax boss Ronald Koeman, respected and normally reliable newspapers such as Het Parool and de Volkskrant reported that the impact of the affair was bigger than Ajax admitted. According to Het Parool Zlatan was deeply insulted by the suggestion of his team-mate and said during their talk with Koeman that he would never play in a team with Van der Vaart again. Paul Onkenhout, columnist for de Volkskrant, meanwhile, quoted an 'Ajax insider' who claimed that Zlatan had told Van der Vaart in the dressing room: "If you talk to the press once again I will break your neck."

In Tuesday's issue of de Volkskrant, Van der Vaart said about Zlatan's departure: "Good for him. I will miss him as a player. Meanwhile, it is no secret that the two of us had problems. The incident after Sweden vs Holland has been dealt with, but that was - more than anything else - because we're supposed to play football together."

Ibrahimovic himself told Voetbal International: "I am very happy. This is the club of my dreams. I've always been extremely happy at Ajax and I will the leave the club with pain in my heart. But when Juventus showed up I just knew that this was the chance I would perhaps never have again. I couldn't say 'no' to Juventus." And, on AT5 television: "Ajax will forever be in my heart. I want to thank everybody at the club, including Rafaël. He's a great player and I've never had a problem with him."

Zlatan Ibrahimovic at Ajax

Zlatan Ibrahimovic (born 03 October 1981 in Malmö, Sweden) was landed by Ajax head-coach Co Adriaanse and technical director Leo Beenhakker on 22 March 2001. Coming from Swedish Allsvenskan outfit Malmö FF, the striker moved to Amsterdam in the summer of 2001. Ajax paid a transfer fee of 8.5 million euros for the player, making him the most expensive Ajax signing ever.

The latter fact was frequently used against Ibrahimovic in his first season at the ArenA, in which he failed to live up to the expectations and was frequently jeered at by the Ajax crowd and derided by the Dutch press. Ibrahimovic had 24 appearances in the Dutch Eredivisie, but scored only six goals. Not Zlatan, as he called himself, but Ahmed 'Mido' Hossam developed into the goalscoring revelation of the season. Ibrahimovic's tough first year as an Ajacied had a happy ending as he netted the 'golden goal' in the Amstel Cup final against FC Utrecht.

Under head-coach Ronald Koeman, and with coach-assistant Marco van Basten as his personal patron, Ibrahimovic started living up to the hype in the 2002-2003 season. He was still criticized for his relatively low number of goals in the Dutch league (13 in 25 appearances), but made the difference for Ajax in the unexpectedly succesful Champions League run of that season, during which he scored five times.

The Ajax crowd now embraced Ibrahimovic as one of their favorites. The 2003-2004 season was supposed to be the first season in which Ibrahimovic would prove to belong to the very best in the world. He failed to do so in the Champions League, in which Ajax had a disappointing run and Ibrahimovic scored only once, but improved enormously in the Dutch Eredivisie. Ibrahimovic became a dominant factor and a key player for Ajax and it was highly unfortunate that groin surgery ruled him out for months after the winter break. He finished the season with 13 goals in 22 league appearances.

Ibrahimovic was generally expected to leave Amsterdam in the summer of 2004, but seemed ready for one last season as an Ajacied as the start of the season came closer. He played in the Johan Cruyff Shield game and Ajax's first three league games, before departing after all. His last goal for Ajax against NAC Breda (his 47th in 110 official games) will be remembered by many as his most beautiful as an Ajacied - and 'typical Zlatan'. With the ball glued to his foot he tricked five defenders and the goalkeeper before firing home, lightning-quick. The flabbergasted spectators at the Amsterdam ArenA was unaware that it was the Swede's farewell gift. The next time Zlatan will play at the Arena will be on 15 September 2004. As a Juventus player...

Zlatan, as much as it hurts to see you go: thank you for three unforgettable years - in many ways. Good luck! (MP)

Sources: Ajax.nl, Het Parool, de Volkskrant, Voetbal International

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