Perez returns to Ajax
01 January: Less than six months after having joined PSV, Kenneth Perez has returned to Ajax, the club he didn't want to leave in the first place. The Danish playmaker, 33, penned his new Ajax contract on New Year's Eve. He committed to the Amsterdam club for a season and a half, until 30 June 2009. Neither Ajax nor PSV has revealed the transfer fee paid by the Amsterdammers, but according to press reports Ajax paid PSV approximately 1.7 million euros – the same amount PSV paid Ajax six months ago.
The comeback of Kenneth Perez (born Copenhagen, Denmark, 29 August 1974) to the Amsterdam ArenA underscores once again what everybody already knew, namely that the Dane's departure had to do with only one man: head-coach Henk ten Cate. The personal relationship between Ten Cate and the former AZ man was not great, to put it diplomatically. Perez demanded more playing time, Ten Cate refused to make such a promise and urged technical director Martin van Geel to offload the Danish fan favourite.
It is no secret that Van Geel, who landed Perez on 31 January 2006, was sorry to see Perez go, but saw no other option, as Ten Cate made clear that he did not regard the Danish international as the 'new Wesley Sneijder' in his squad. Ajax decided to sell the player to PSV, much to the frustration of the Ajax supporters, who did seem to believe in Perez as Ajax's new 'number 10'. Perez netted 12 times in 27 Eredivisie appearances for Ajax, in spite of the fact that he played from the start only ten times. He had 45 appearances in all competition, scoring 17 goals.
Perez's record in six months at PSV is equally outstanding: he started in 14 league games and netted 8 times. He also scored a goal in the Champions League. It makes you wonder: why did PSV let Kenneth Perez go?
According to PSV director Jan Reker there are two reasons: firstly, Kenneth Perez still lives north of Amsterdam and the long daily drive to Eindhoven took it out of him more than he had expected. Secondly, Perez is 33 years old and wants playing time. He was a starter under head-coach Ronald Koeman, but spent a lot of time on the bench under Koeman's (temporary) successor, Jan Wouters.
Sounds fair, but it's not the whole story: it is no secret that Ajax was Kenneth Perez's dream club for the final years of his career. The player did not want to leave Ajax as a club. The only reason for his departure was his fundamental 'clash of egos' with Henk ten Cate. Now that the latter is gone, Perez was very eager to return to Ajax.
It must be added, though, that Kenneth Perez was not Ajax's first choice for the 'number 10' position. The Amsterdammers were after Luka Modric, playmaker of Dinamo Zagreb, but their 15 million euro bid was reportedly rejected by the Croatian giants. PSV youngster Ismail Aissati was also on Ajax's wish list, but instead of letting his contract expire and moving to Amsterdam, Aissati penned a new deal in Eindhoven. Aissati's contract renewal made Kenneth Perez surplus to requirements at Philips Stadium, which opened the door for Ajax.
From the perspective of PSV: "Kenneth Perez was eager to return to Ajax, where he had already spent one season, and PSV complied with the player's wish, as they want to offer their own young talented players an opportunity to develop their football careers to their full potential in the centre of midfield."
The successor of Wesley Sneijder is a player who was on Ajax's payrole just before Sneijder left. Bizarre story, bizarre transfer… great player. Welcome back, Kenneth! (Menno Pot)
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