Ajax boss relieved Edson Alvarez stayed following Chelsea interest
FT Desk
- 11 Sept 2022 12:08 BST
- 3 min read
Alfred Schreuder endured a mass exodus from Ajax this summer, with Antony and Lisandro Martinez leading the departures in joining Manchester United, but the manager is relieved Edson Alvarez stayed.
Schreuder admitted that Alvarez had asked to be allowed to join Chelsea on transfer deadline day, but Ajax rejected their €50 million bid with it too late in the day to adequately replace the Mexican defensive midfielder.
Ajax won the Dutch Eredivisie under United manager Erik ten Hag last season and reached the knock-out stages of the Champions League, but the squad he handed over to former Barcelona assistant coach Schreuder was subsequently picked apart.
Ajax are really pi**** off over Antony's transfer to Man Utd 😡https://t.co/UiGeU8r9Po
— Football Transfers (@Transfersdotcom) September 7, 2022
United paid a combined €165 million to reunite Antony and Martinez with Ten Hag at Old Trafford, with Antony forcing a deadline day move after refusing to play. Ryan Gravenberch and last season's top scorer Sebastien Haller had previously been snapped up by Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund respectively.
Ajax still performing
Ajax seem to have recovered quickly, though, winning a perfect six games from six to sit top of the Dutch Eredivisie, while they opened this season's Champions League campaign with a 4-0 win over Rangers.
"We're very happy that Edson's still playing for us," Schreuder said after the recent 5-0 win over Heerenveen. "He's developing very well on that [defensive midfield] position. In terms of football ability, he's getting better; there's still potential to grow in that area. Defensively, he had lots of quality, surely everyone can agree on that."
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Alvarez joined Ajax in a in a €17m deal from Club America in 2019, inheriting Matthijs de Ligt's No.4 jersey, and has since racked up 110 appearances in all competitions, mostly from midfield but occasionally deputising at centre-back.
Now ranked at €30m by Football Transfers sophisticated inhouse algorithm, Alvarez's current contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena runs until 30 June 2025.
