Ajaxtalk

this is up on sky sports:
"Stuttgart winger Jesper Gronkjaer has played down reports that Ajax are ready to lure him back to the Amsterdam Arena"

http://home.skysports.com/list.asp?hlid ... +Ajax+talk

Good choice. I think Ajax need a whole new defensive scheme I mean comon. We can score goals but cant stop conceding.

Unless Gronkjaer can play right back , center half, or midfield hard man, he's not worth the time it would take to hammer out a deal.Trabelsi...gone. Grygera...possibly gone(or definitely if his comment of late is to be believed). Midfield is too lightweight, even with Lindenbergh playing better than earlier in the season, not to address it . A midfield including Sneijder and Maduro demands the presence of a hard man.

how did this fall so far to the second page? :headbang:

As I watched Juventus get kicked out of the Champions League yesterday, the swedish commentator said that dutch sources indicated that Arsenal's Pires was almost ready for a transfer to Ajax in the summer.

Do you have any facts about this? I've not heard or read anything about it.

Pires...??

Haven't heard any such thing over here and to be honest I can't imagine that it's true. It would be a step back for Pires and he's still quite a superstar over there, isn't he? Why would he voluntarily accept a salary that is less than 50% of what he's making now?

K.

I think we have to concentrate on a right back (haven't heard a name so far) and two midfielders: one for the bench (cziommer?) and one for playing togheter with maduro and sneijder... i dream of davids or landzaat but will ever happen?
and, yes, if rosales is not happy or has no trust from the board, go for willhelmsson

Kowalczyk schreef:Pires...??

Haven't heard any such thing over here and to be honest I can't imagine that it's true. It would be a step back for Pires and he's still quite a superstar over there, isn't he? Why would he voluntarily accept a salary that is less than 50% of what he's making now?

K.

I was very surprised as well. Wenger won't give Pires more than a one-year extension on his contract, but Pires wants more. And the commentator repeatedly said that he was very close to a summer deal with Ajax, according to some of his dutch colleagues.

I don't think it could happend either. There are probably many of the clubs in the bigger leagues who are interested in Pires, and I don't see why he would want a move to the Eredivisie.

Ok I know. Freddy Adu and Jon Spector. American-Ajacied :D

Javier Mascherano as the other midfielder including Adu.

jakobg schreef:I was very surprised as well. Wenger won't give Pires more than a one-year extension on his contract, but Pires wants more.

Okay. It is possible, of course, that Pires is pissed off with Wenger and Arsenal, and that he wants to leave. But as you say: if he would want a transfer the top clubs from England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France would be in line for him.

He is a winger, so he would fit in quite well at Ajax, but let's face it: he's probably making 3 or 4 million euros at Arsenal. At Ajax he would be the biggest earner at 1.5 million...

I would be flabbergasted if this turns out to be true. I would like it, though... :yes:

K.

Kowalczyk schreef: He is a winger, so he would fit in quite well at Ajax, but let's face it: he's probably making 3 or 4 million euros at Arsenal. At Ajax he would be the biggest earner at 1.5 million...

Two remarks :

First I agree with Ko, he wouldn't do that, cause that would be a step back for him.

Second I disagree with Ko, Pires is not cut out to be an Ajax winger. He's too central for that, and he isn't fast enough. He's of the Sneijder category, except more on the left and a bit more defensive.

Papers over here are saying Davids could come back to Ajax. What do you guys think?

SPL schreef:Papers over here are saying Davids could come back to Ajax. What do you guys think?

I think it must be a slow news day.

;)

I will be glad..of course he is a short term buy, but we need to rebuild the team and grow the youngsters with two players like him in the key-roles..one is stam, one should be davids.
perfect plan, but difficult.

I don't see it happening, but I wouldn't mind. He would give us a defenisive midfielder and make a good partner for Stam as well as mentor for the younger players. Plus, he is a link to our glorious past and might help create an environment where players are proud to play in the red and white. I wouldn't object if he came back.

Plus, he is a link to our glorious past and might help create an environment where players are proud to play in the red and white

you used the words I had in mind..absolutely well said

I read today that Van Geel denied any talks with Davids and that Ajax is really close on buying George Ogararu from Steaua Bucarest to replace Trabelsi. Honestly I have no idea who the guy is but I hope he's good.
Also there is news about another romanian called Baniel Nicolita although I'm not sure in which position he plays.

I saw on one web site that we are to sign the young Genk player Steven Defour, a 17 year old forward!!!

i heard a while back That Kanu would want to come back if west brom get relegated

Post from Saddler Ian:

SaddlerIan schreef:Although they haven't published the pre-season friendlies yet, one item place in today's Express & Star, (Wolverhampton & Black Country in England), states that "Villa Midfielder Lee Hendrie Has been aproached by Ajax".
How true does anyone believe this to be?

My reply...

The article has been up as a news link on the Ajax USA homepage for a couple of days, if anyone's interested.

No idea how seriously we should take this.

K.

1) I don't think that Pires' transfer to Ajax will be step back in his career. He is not 'old and perspective' player now and I think he won't have many offers from top clubs, so Ajax could be the best choice for him. Maybe I'm wrong, but I suppose that clubs like Milan, Barcelona or Real Madrid will not fight for him. But - as you wrote - money is very big problem. He will probably return to French League, to any rich club.

2) It's hard to say that Hendrie's transfer is good or bad choice. He spends more time on the bench than or the field, so I don't know if he's in good or bad form (maybe someone from England could say it). But one thing is sure- transfer from bench to bench won't be good option for him, and for Ajax as well...

Hendrie cannot get into a very poor team like Villa. I thought this must be a joke.

If we're looking for a right back then look no further than Spurs' Stephen Kelly. He's a young player who broke into the team last year and was on top of his game untill Jol bought a more experienced right back and dropped Kelly, even though Kelly had done nothing wrong. Kelly plays like an Ajax right back too, he's great going forward.

Why dont we look West...South America has some great players.......the US also has a few good players.....why can't we look over there? one example is Martin Palermo.Also, why do players go to Turkey and Greece for their last 2-3 years playing life? why can't Ajax try for a few of the good ones?

Most South Americans fail in Holland. Only the exceptions make it. For whatever reasons. Ajax had a bunch of them and I believe that Maxwell was the only one of those who made the first team on a regular basis. As far as the US goes, Ajax has Ajax Orlando. I suppose they scout for us.