Ajax land Perez; Van Gaal and AZ outraged
31 January: As expected Ajax officially announced the
signing of AZ forward Kenneth Perez on Tuesday: the Danish
international (31) will join Ajax for three seasons as per 01
July 2006. The reported transfer fee: 2.5 million
euros. Ajax announced the transfer, but added
that "a few details" in the contract still needed to
be finalized. Ajax's decision to already announce the deal
has outraged AZ -- and head-coach Louis van Gaal in
particular.
Immediately after the news of the Perez transfer was
published on Ajax.nl,
AZ denied the agreement in a statement on their official
website: "AZ did not reach an agreement with Ajax yet
on a transfer of Kenneth Perez to the Amsterdam club (...) AZ
is neither pleased with the way Ajax announced the alleged
transfer nor with their sense of timing, just before AZ's
important cup fixture against MVV." Ironically, AZ and MVV
are the two clubs Perez played for in The
Netherlands.
Both head-coach Louis van Gaal and technical director Marcel
Brands expressed their anger in the press. Van Gaal, as quoted
in de Volkskrant: "Ajax, the club that I still
call my club, played a very dirty game here. They
claim that they had to react to the rumours, because they
are a public company, quoted on the stock exchange. But believe
me: Martin van Geel 'leaked' this to the press deliberately."
Added Marcel Brands: "This is a disgrace. We will have to
accept that Perez will join Ajax, but we don't agree on
some details yet, as Ajax admit that in their own press
statement. As long as nothing has been signed, there is no
deal. And then they announced it just like that, a few hours
before our cup game. They are breaking a gentlemen's code
here."
Perez himself did not want to talk about the situation, but
poured out his heart this week over dinner with
Volkskrant reporter Poul Annema: "Apparently a 31
year-old player is not allowed to have ambition, but I still
want to get better and learn new things. Perhaps that is down
to the fact that I don't haven't seen as much in football as
other players my age, who played on this level longer than me.
I am just curious of what it's like. I am not a dreamer and not
a career planner, but to be honest I still want to play for a
really big club for three years. Just to find out what it's
like and whether I can do it or not."
Perez continued: "I've always hoped for a move to Ajax. In
Denmark Ajax are the club in Holland. (...) I can
sense it when I go back home to join the Danish squad: Ajax are
seen as the crème de la crème, whereas AZ are
that provincial outfit, who happen to have caught a
glimpse of the highest level in European football. You
can't fight that. It's useless. The Danes associate Ajax
with people like Michael Laudrup, the greatest players my
country produced. (...) Also, my future lies in The
Netherlands. Especially if I can make my dream come true: after
my career I would love to host Studio Sport [the #1
sports program on Dutch TV, ed.]. have sensible conversations
with people who take football seriously."
Van Gaal, in reaction to Perez's quotes: "I understand him,
don't get me wrong. The aura of Ajax is so enormous. It's a
dream club to every player. Perez is a true Ajax player,
too."
Kenneth Perez (born Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 August 1974)
started his career in the lower divisions of Danish football at
AB 1970, Kastrup and AB Copenhagen, before one of Denmark's
giants, FC Copenhagen ('FCK') signed him up in the summer of
1995. After two seasons on the highest level in his fatherland
(29 league appearances, 3 goals) he was scouted by Dutch
Eredivisie side MVV from Maastricht in the summer of 1997. He
wore the 'golden star' of MVV for two and a half seasons,
playing 47 Eredivisie matches (16 goals).
During the winter break of the 1999-2000 season he moved
from Maastricht to Alkmaar. At AZ he took his career to the
next level. In precisely six years, spread out over seven
seasons, he developed into one of the best forwards in the
Eredivisie. Sometimes he would play as a striker, sometimes as
a 'number 10', sometimes as a left winger. In 153 Eredivisie
appearances for the Alkmaar side he netted 50 times. He also
became a regular for Denmark as an AZ player. In total he
scored 66 goals in 200 appearances in the Dutch Eredivisie.
Like so many AZ players Perez started drawing serious
international attention in the latter two and a half seasons,
under coaches Co Adriaanse and Louis van Gaal. AZ were
second away from the UEFA Cup final last season and
impressed Europe with their attractive and ultra-offensive
play. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, AZ.nl, de Volkskrant
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