World Soccer - UK (2019-11)

JUL 26, 2017

Makes his

Champions League

debut as Ajax draw

1-1 with Nice in

France.

NOV 10, 2017

Scores his first

goal for Holland

under-21s in an

8-0 thrashing

of Andorra.

him, including PSV, Heerenveen and Ajax.

Frenkie’s mother, Marjon Schuchhard,

revealed in an interview with the NRC

Handelsblad newspaper earlier this year

that her son was initially keen to wear the

blue-and-white stripes of Heerenveen.

However, it was PSV who shoved to the

front of the queue.

PSV youth scout Rini De Groot

very much liked what he saw and the

Eindhoven club’s then technical director

Marcel Brands – who now has a similar

role at Everton – wholeheartedly agreed.

Talks between PSV and the De Jong

camp went well and the outlines of a

deal began to take shape – so much so

that the boy was even photographed

holding a PSV shirt.

But PSV’s biggest problem was that

Ajax were still lurking with intent. Marc

Overmars, Ajax’s director of football,

had long been an admirer of De Jong

and, even with PSV apparently in pole

position, he was determined not to

be denied.

Overmars admits it was a case of love

at first sight. “I was watching the Dutch

under-16 side and Frenkie, who was 15 at

the time, was one of their substitutes,” the

former Ajax and Holland winger told

Voetbal International magazine. “That

day, he was the only one I really noticed.

“He was a small skinny lad with spindly

legs. No one was paying any particular

attention to him. Yet something about

him struck me. It was the way he received

the ball and turned smoothly away.

“That is still his best quality. That was

enough for me. I knew he was the one

I had to get and I don’t give up.”

Ajax swiftly rolled out the red carpet

for the youngster, inviting him to their

training centre and bewitching him

with the magic of their history, their

outstanding track record in nurturing and

promoting young talent, and the string of

club figureheads he was introduced to.

Among the welcoming party were

first-team coach Frank de Boer, his

number two Dennis Bergkamp and

reserve-team boss Jaap Stam. In the

face of such concerted lobbying, he

was not going to

resist. But there

was still the transfer to negotiate.

Willem wanted €800,000 for the

teenager but Ajax thought the price too

high. Finally, an unusual compromise was

reached. In return for a symbolic transfer

fee of just €1, the Amsterdam club

pledged to give Willem 10 per cent of

Frenkie’s resale value. De Jong’s recent

move to Barcelona therefore meant a

substantial payday for Willem. Four years

on, Willem’s decision to roll the dice,

looks an inspired one.

“We took the risk that we could

have ended up empty-handed,” said

Willem’s Berry van Gool in Voetbal

International. “OK, we thought, we’ll

take that percentage. It was death or

glory. All or nothing.”

As far as Ajax were concerned, they

had pulled off a major coup. Many of

“I knew he was the one I had to get

and I don’t give up”

Marc Overmars, Ajax’s director of football

Young Ajax talent...(top row, from left) Donny Van

de Beek, Justin Kluivert, Matthijs De Ligt (bottom

row, from left) Abdelhak Nouri, Frenkie De Jong

Farewell...saying

goodbye to Ajax

supporters in May

Frenkie De Jong