It does Siem like move will test De Jong
HE JOINS AJAX IN CRISIS
SIEM de Jong is set to quit Newcastle United and join an Ajax side in the middle of a fullblown crisis. The Dutch giants were dumped out of the Europa League qualifiers on Thursday by Norwegian side Rosenborg. And with new boss Marcel Keizer trying to add some experience to a youthful squad the club have turned to an old favourite in De Jong. Ajax, who have also lost captain Davy Klaassen to Everton this summer, have money in the bank after picking up a whopping fee of £42m for Tottenham Hotspur new boy Davinson Sanchez. De Jong decided to quit Newcastle – and English football – this week after three years at St James’ Park. He could have signed for Reading and picked up more money playing for Jaap Stam’s side in the Sky Bet Championship but opted for Ajax. Despite being handed another fresh start by Rafa Benitez, he leaves having been unable to battle his way into the starting XI, with Ayoze Perez and Mo Diame both ahead of him in the pecking order. De Jong has been plagued with injuries since arriving at Newcastle, leaving him open to scrutiny from some Newcastle fans.
Since learning of Ajax’s bid for his services there have been others who have expressed disappointment as far as De Jong’s exit is concerned.
But with Ajax already dropping three points in their Dutch Eredivisie campaign his old club are hoping he can help fire them up the table.
His arrival in Amsterdam hasn’t captured the imagination of everybody, though.
NOS commentator Arno Vermeulen said in a website column this week: “I do not think this is a challenging, ambitious move.
“You expect spectacle: a player giving you a sense of ‘wow.’ That’s not Siem de Jong.”
And De Jong will arrive to a gloomy scene at Ajax after they were knocked out of European competition in Norway.
After Ajax players trudged off the pitch, centre-back Joel Veltman faced the media to say: “The last time Ajax did not play in Europe I wasn’t even born, so you can figure out how much of a blow this is. It will be a long few weeks.”
Midfielder Lasse Schöne said: “We were bad, subordinate and unworthy of Ajax.”
As De Jong walks away from Newcastle’s bad start in the Premier League and the political storm brewing on Tyneside, he knows he must hit the ground running back at his old club.