"Bye-bye Wesley": Sneijder joins Real Madrid in 27 million euro transfer
12 August: On 20 July Wesley Sneijder announced that
he had decided to stay at Ajax for one more year. Less
than a month later he has left the club after all, in
what is the by far biggest transfer in Ajax history. Sneijder
couldn't say 'no' to Real Madrid; Ajax couldn't say 'no' to
their 27 million euros, a fee Real refused to pay when
they first contacted Ajax on Friday, but - to cut a long story
short - ended up paying after all some 36 hours
later. Sneijder will sign a five-season deal at the
Bernabéu.
It's been a bizarre story. After months of speculation
(Valencia were interested, they reportedly offered 16 million
euros, after which Ajax raised their price to 30 million)
Wesley Sneijder announced on 20 July, during Ajax's training
camp in Scotland, that he was going to
stay at Ajax for one last season. Was it a 100% guarantee?
Well, no: even when he made his promise, Sneijder
said that "you never know what will happen in the world of
football".
Indeed: you don't.
Last Friday, 10 August, there suddenly was a remarkable
statement from Ajax's technical director, Martin van Geel.
Real Madrid had appeared on the scene. Their bid: 24 million
euros. "Right now, there is a more than fair chance that Wesley
Sneijder will join Real Madrid. I can no longer deny
that," admitted Van Geel.
And then things got bizarre. Van Geel stated that there
still was a 30 million euro price tag around Sneijder's
neck, but that Ajax understood that this is a unique
opportunity for the player, and that the club were willing
to lower the price to 27 million euros. Real Madrid immediately
replied: 24 million euros was their only and final bid, and
they demanded a decision from Ajax within the next three hours.
The Amsterdam club refused to be put under pressure in
this manner, rejected the bid and decided to discontinue
the negotiations. This was confirmed in an official
statement on Ajax.nl. "This ultimatum is a disgrace,"
added general director Maarten Fontein in the Sunday issue
of newspaper De Telegraaf. "We do not wish to be
bullied like this. This is not the way one should do
business."
Much to Ajax's surprise Real Madrid apologized for their
ultimatum. According to Martin van Geel the 'Royals' from
Madrid admitted that they were put under pressure themselves:
they were not just talking to Ajax, but also to
another candidate. "They didn't tell me whom they were talking
to," Van Geel said, "but for now, the Sneijder transfer is
off."
Van Geel appeared in football talkshow Studio
Voetbal and told his story: "The transfer seemed to have
fallen through, but yesterday evening - after the Johan Cruijff
Shield game - I received a text message, saying that Real
Madrid's general director was going to contact me again.
And we've been in touch indeed, late on Saturday evening. We've
been a bit tougher to them, because they had turned us
down so resolutely. Basically, what we told them was: we
want 27 million, take it or leave it, and you can decide
tomorrow."
Today, Real Madrid turned out to have changed their
minds: they agreed to a fee of 27 million euros, the
highest sum of money ever paid for an Ajax player, and the deal
was finalized. Ajax's number one superstar, and a true
Ajacied, has left the Amsterdam ArenA.
Wesley Sneijder (born Utrecht, 09 June 1984) is not a born
Amsterdammer, but has been an Ajacied for most of his life. He
joined the Amsterdam club in 1992, aged seven,
entering the Ajax youth system in the E2 youth team. He
came all the way through the ranks, penned his first
professional youth contract in 2000 and was first added to
the Ajax-1 squad by head-coach Ronald Koeman in January
2003.
Sneijder made his official first team début on 02
February of that year, in the Eredivisie home game
against Willem II. He scored his first goal just over one
month later: on 05 March in the cup fixture against FC
Groningen. He almost instantly made an impact. Within a year's
time there were 40 first team appearances and 10 goals behind
his name. At that point he had already made his Holland
début (in April 2003) and penned an improved
and extended deal 'til 2007 on
12 December 2003.
The only frustrating factor was, ironically, the presence of
Sneijder's best mate at Ajax: Rafaël van der Vaart.
Coaches and press found that the two could not
play in midfield together, because they were essentially
the same types: a 'number 10', creative and dominant, but a bit
lazy and aloof when it came to switching back to defensive
duties. Sneijder was frequently on the bench and made many
appearances as a left midfielder, not as a 'number 10'.
Things changed when Van der Vaart
left for Hamburger SV in May 2005. Sneijder knew that
his time had come, he became a key player, Ajax's true 'number
10' and agreed to another
contract renewal (this time 'til 2009) in November
2005. The year 2006 marked his big break. In the 2006-2007
season he netted 22 times in 47 official matches. It was his
final jump to the top. Wesley Sneijder was no longer a talent,
but a superstar. He had become physically stronger and his
work ethic on the pitch had improved tremendously. He could
shoot with both feet. He scored a lot, and his
goals were always of spectacular beauty - and
almost always of great importance.
After 180 games and 57 goals for Ajax, 35 caps and 6 goals
for Holland, two contract renewals and, okay, an incident
or two, Wesley Sneijder is no longer an Ajacied. There is
a fair chance that ignorant people will, in a few years'
time, tell you that Wesley Sneijder is another Ajax
talent, who left the club as a youngster, only to become a
star elsewhere. Nonsense. Wesley Sneijder was already a
superstar when he left Ajax. He was in the Ajax-1 squad for
four and a half seasons. He was a talent for three, and a
superstar for one and a half.
Four days before the first vital Champions League qualifier
against Slavia Prague, Ajax have lost Wesley Sneijder. What to
do now? Martin van Geel, in Studio Voetbal: "We've
been working on it for a few days now. We will deal with this
situation adequately and appropriately, but we can't simply
replace Wesley Sneijder. He is irreplaceable. We will come
up with something different, and something good, but
unfortunately it will be impossible to get that done before
Wednesday."
To be continued, as they say. All we can do now is say
'thank you and goodbye' to a fantastic footballer and a great
Ajacied.
Wesley, little man, thanks for your creativity, your
ideas, your spectacular goals and your constant drive and
ambition to become a better, more complete football player and
a better, more complete person. We've seen you grow and we've
seen you grow up at the same time - and we loved
every minute of it. Ajax USA wishes you good luck in
Spain! (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, De Telegraaf, Studio Voetbal,
VI.nl
Related links
