Ajax CT battling to find good deals in January transfer window

WITH THE closing of the Premier Soccer League’s transfer window a week away, Ajax Cape Town are finding it difficult to bring in the players they need to strengthen their squad for the second half of the season.

The PSL is still in recess for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations and resumes on February 10.

Ajax coach Roger de Sa has made no secret of the fact that he wants to beef up the team’s spine – central defender, central midfield and striker.

But, even though De Sa and his assistant Ian Taylor had a wish-list of players, which they shared and discussed with club chief executive Ari Efstathiou, nothing, so far, has materialised.

“In all my time in football, this has been the toughest transfer period I have had to negotiate,” explained Efstathiou. “I can assure you, there are hardly any possibilities available. There is nothing much on the market.

“The circumstances responsible for it include the fact that four top clubs – Kaizer Chiefs, Orlando Pirates, Wits and Mamelodi Sundowns – will be competing in Africa this year. As such, they are not offloading.

“The teams at the bottom, like AmaZulu, Platinum Stars and Free State Stars, are in trouble and desperate, which is why they, too, don’t want to lose quality players. And that leaves on the market only players who nobody wants.

“We also still have one foreigner spot open in the squad, but that, too, has been difficult. With Afcon taking place, foreign players are reluctant to commit, hopeful that they can catch the eye at the tournament, and land a better deal, perhaps overseas.

“It has been a frustratingly difficult time to get players in.

“Also, we have to be realistic, in that we only have 12 league games left in the season, and you don’t want to rush into a transfer… we can always look again during the next window in August.

“We are, however, still hoping to try and do two or three deals before the close of the window.”

As things stand in the PSL at the moment, runaway leaders Kaizer Chiefs have 46 points, followed by Sundowns on 31, Wits 31, Orlando Pirates 26 and Ajax 24.

But despite being in fifth position on the league table, the Capetonians are still first targeting safety.

“We want to get the next nine points as soon as possible,” said Taylor. “That will put us on 33 points and that should be enough to take us out of any situation of struggle. Then we can focus our attention on finishing in the top eight and playing with a bit more freedom.

“Strengthening the squad has proven to be very tough, but it’s something that is critical. And not just for the second half of the season, but also for next year.

“If you look at the current squad, we have to assume that a few of them won’t be here next year. Some are getting on in years, while some of the talented young- sters, like Rivaldo Coetzee and Abbubaker Mobara, may be lured away with tempting offers, perhaps even from overseas. So we have to bear that in mind as well.”

Taylor admitted that Ajax’s slump towards the end of last year was disappointing.

“We fell away badly and that had a lot to do with the inconsistency of the youngsters,” he said. “It’s something to be expected, but they have to now start to become better players and to play to potential more consistently.

“But (Keagan) Dolly will be back. He has recovered from a broken toe and will bring more creativity and spark to the attack. Frankie (Franklin Cale) is getting fitter and fitter after injury, and I think he will be a lot more influential in the second half of the season.”

During the break, Ajax had the opportunity and the privilege to host two European clubs in friendly games – Dutch side PEC Zwolle and German Bundesliga giants VFL Wolfsburg. The Cape side beat Zwolle 2-1, but were thrashed 4-1 by Wolfsburg.

“Obviously, Zwolle were a bit weaker, but Wolfsburg showed us just how big the gap is between the top European clubs and the PSL,” said Taylor. “The intensity they play at, the well-drilled passing, and the precision and ruthlessness of how they go about things were highly impressive.”

Efstathiou agreed: “Wolfsburg were simply at a much higher level than us. We just couldn’t compete with them.

“Nevertheless, though, the idea of this Friendship Cup was a great marketing tool for us. The game against Wolfsburg was televised to around 40 million people, via StarSat, in Africa, China and Germany.

IAN TAYLOR