Overmars on the futures of De Jong and De Ligt
The Ajax sporting director is proud of the quality players he's got together but knows they will leave
Marc Overmars, sporting director of Ajax, spoke about the talent of the club’s young players at a shareholders meeting that was held on Saturday. Overmars, head of football at Ajax, wanted to point out that for the club it has been difficult to keep his talents there and that only Justin Kluivert has left. However, he has also acknowledged that it will be a difficult task to repeat that in the summer of 2019.
After showing a video featuring André Onana, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt, David Neres, Kluivert, Donny van de Beek and Kasper Dolberg, Marc Overmars addressed the shareholders, showing his pride in having managed to keep the group of young talents together. "Of these seven, only one is gone (Kluivert). It's not so bad, although we would have liked to keep him, we had that in mind and that's why we reacted quickly with players of experience," Overmars told shareholders.
ESCAPE
Asked in an ironic way by Van de Sar, Marc Overmars talked about the current market situation, especially after Ajax’s performances in the Champions League. "This time I will not keep the phone in the drawer of the table," joked Overmars, referring to a social media clip posted by the club. "I think it's going to be a difficult job to keep those guys, I've told them many times, there's continually news in the papers about our players every day, now we can enjoy this group, but I have to tell you that it's honestly impossible to keep a group like that for four years,” he acknowledged.
"We look forward with confidence and hope to next season and I have already commissioned our scouts to start working, I have sent them to be busy, to throw out the nets and start reeling in the fish."
