Dennis Rommedahl commits to Ajax for three seasons
20 July: Less than 24 hours after having landed
striker
Ismael Urzaiz Ajax presented another newcomer: Danish
right winger Dennis Rommedahl, whom followers of
Dutch football will remember from his six season spell at
PSV, signed a three-year contract in De Lutte today. Rommedahl
got relegated from the English Premiership with Charlton
Athletic last season and left the London outfit for a limited
transfer fee of some one million euros.
The professional career of Dennis Rommedahl (born
Copenhagen, Denmark, 22 July 1978) started at the tender age of
17, at Lyngby FC in 1995. After two seasons, 26 league
appearances and 4 goals his Danish days were over: Rommedahl
was still under-20, but made the jump to The Netherlands. He
penned a contract at PSV, but knew that the Eindhoven
powerhouse were going to loan him out to Eredivisie side RKC
Waalwijk for the 1997-1998 season. Rommedahl played the full 34
league games for RKC and netted 5 times.
Rommedahl really joined PSV in the summer of 1998.
It marked the start of a long, six-season spel in
Eindhoven. Rommedahl won the Dutch championship with PSV in
2000, 2001 and 2003, and clinched the Johan Cruyff Shield in
2001 and 2003. As a PSV player, the lightning-quick right
winger also made his début for the Danish national team
(after 19 games and 5 goals for the country's U-19 and U-21
teams). Rommedahl still is a Danish international today: his
number of caps is now 67 (15 goals).
When Rommedah left PSV in the summer of 2004 there was
plenty of interest from both Italy and England, but the speedy
right-footer quite surprisingly signed a contract at a
relatively modest London-based club: Charlton Athletic. In
three seasons he appeared in 75 Premiership fixtures, scoring 4
times for Charlton.
Rommedahl underwent his medical in Amsterdam today and then
drove to De Lutte, where his new jersery with number 16 was
presented to him. The Dane has become an Ajacied, just two days
before his 29th birthday. "Ajax are just the right club for
me," Rommedahl said. "I really wanted to move back to Holland.
I've played in the Dutch league for many years and I really
like the positive football that is played in Holland. That goes
for Ajax more than for any other club. Ajax always play
offensively. They always go forward. And they go for the
trophies."
Head-coach Henk ten Cate acknowledges that Rommedahl can
play at every position on the right, but confirmed that he was
mainly landed for the position of right winger. "We have
various options now that Dennis is here. Kennedy is at his best
with the ball at his foot, whereas Dennis has 'depth': he can
be launched, using his speed. Let's not forget that Ajax play
60 games per year or so. Two right wingers really is no
luxury."
The Ajax boss also said that he is hoping for two more
newcomers before the season really start, one of them being FC
Groningen striker Luis Suárez. Ajax want to purchase the
young Uruguayan, but Groningen insist that Suárez is not
for sale. In order to force FC Groningen to co-operate,
Suárez and his agent have announced that they will take
the case to court. It is scheduled for 30 July. (MP)
Sources: Ajax.nl, Wikipedia
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