Vermaelen loaned out to RKC Waalwijk 'til season's end
07 January: Ajax-1 squad member Thomas Vermaelen will
play for Eredivisie club RKC Waalwijk for the
remainder of the 2004-2005 season. The Belgian defender (19),
who played one league match for Ajax's first team last
season, has been loaned out to the Waalwijk side. "For the
development of a talented, young player it is of great
importance to get some experience on the highest level,"
explained Ajax head-coach Ronald Koeman.
Thomas Vermaelen (born Kapellen, Belgium, 14 November 1985)
played for Belgian club Germinal Beerschot Antwerp, the club in
which Ajax had a majority's stake at the time, before he joined
Ajax. He signed his first contract at the Amsterdam club on 01
July 2003 (until 30 June 2007), after having played for Young
Ajax as a youth player. Vermaelen made his début for
Ajax-1 on 15 February 2004 in the Eredivisie away game at FC
Volendam. It still is his only official first team
appearance.
Ronald Koeman officially added the defender to the first
squad after several convincing performances in pre-season
friendlies, in the summer of 2004. However, due to stiff
competition from defenders such as John Heitinga, Julien
Escudé and Zdenek Grygera, Vermaelen did not see
action in the first half of this season - and this
situation seemed unlikely to change in the second. He did play
seven games for Young Ajax and scored one goal.
At RKC, the club coached by Ronald Koeman's older brother
Erwin, Vermaelen will be re-united with several former Young
Ajax team-mates, including Serginho Greene, Michael Krohn-Dehli
and Didi Longuet, who have permanent contracts in Waalwijk.
(MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, RKC Waalwijk.nl
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