Heitinga signs improved and extended contract 'til 2008
05 August: Two serious injuries threatened to nip John
Heitinga's football career in the bud, but the young defender
has had a meteoric career since his second comeback to
Ajax's first team -and is now generally regarded as one of
Ajax's 'crown jewels'. Reason enough for Ajax to offer the
young defender an improved and extended contract, which
Heitinga signed at the ArenA today. His old deal would have
expired in the summer of 2007; Heitinga has now committed until
July 2008.
The way Johnny Heitinga (born Alphen aan den Rijn, 15
November 1983) joined the Ajax youth could have been taken
from a boys' book. As a child it was the football mad
boy's deepest wish to be an Ajacied for a day, and to join an
Ajax youth team for training. His mother contacted Ajax, asking
the club if they could make his dream come true. She was told
that Ajax normally doesn't do such favors, but somehow an
exception was made for young Johnny Heitinga. He got a a 'day
as an Ajacied' as his birthday present, made quite an
impression - and was invited to enter the Ajax youth
system shortly thereafter.
Heitinga signed his first player contract in the summer of
2000 at age 16. After a season with Young Ajax he made his
first team début on 26 August 2001, under coach Co
Adriaanse. The future seemed bright for the youngster,
but a minor tear in the inner cartilage of
his right knee threw a spanner in February 2002. The
estimated recovery time was six weeks, but surgical errors at
Amsterdam's V.U. Hospital made new surgery
necessary in April. Heitinga's first season as a
professional was over.
He made his comeback after over four months of recovery, on
29 September 2002 in the
Eredivisie home game against NAC. A new tragedy occurred
immediately: after only 37 minutes of play he twisted his knee
(this time it was his left), sustaining an even worse injury.
This time the cruciate ligament was torn off
completely. A six month recovery period lay
ahead for Heitinga, 19 years old at that point. He
underwent surgery at the clinic of the world's undisputed
specialist for this type of athlete's injuries, Dr. Richard
Steadman from Vail, Colorado.
Heitinga finally returned to Ajax-1 for the second time in
the Eredivisie home game against
FC Volendam on 17 November 2003, two days after his 20th
birthday. His professional career could finally start
'for real' and indeed: from that moment on, things went
meteorically fast for Heitinga. He soon was a starter in
Ajax-1, scored his first Ajax-1 goals, made his Champions
League début, got to sign an
improved deal with Ajax until the summer of 2007, became
the 99th
Ajacied to make his Oranje début (February
2004) and was a starter for Holland at Euro 2004 in
Portugal.
So far, John Heitinga played 42 Eredivisie games (3 goals),
6 European fixtures and 2 Amstel Cup games for Ajax.
He had 9 appearances for Holland in which he scored once.
"During my recovery I feared that I was going to be loaned
out," Heitinga says. "That's why I am so tremendously happy
with the amazing progress I seem to have made. The
championship, being selected for the national team and now my
extended and improved contract with Ajax. It's fantastic."
"This contract tells me that Ajax is very satisfied and I am
tremendously happy at the club. Now I want to develop into a
real leader on the pitch. Someone other player look up to.
That's my personal ambition for the upcoming period."
Meanwhile, Dutch newspapers De Telegraaf and
Algemeen Dagblad report that Ajax has also reached an
agreement with its two most wanted players of the moment,
Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Maxwell. Both players are tied to Ajax
until the summer of 2006 and do not want to extend their
respective deals. However, their contracts will reportedly be
upgraded financially, in exchange for their promise not to
leave Ajax before season's end. According to press reports both
players have happily accepted Ajax's offer for what is expected
to be their last season at the ArenA. Ajax, however, did
not confirm the agreements with Ibrahimovic and Maxwell as yet.
(MP)
Source: Ajax.nl, De Telegraaf, Algemeen Dagblad
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