Barcelona and Newcastle left red-faced as Ajax announce Overmars deal
Martin Macdonald
- 8 Dec 2021 10:44 GMT
- 3 min read
Ajax have announced that sporting director Marc Overmars will extend his stay in Amsterdam until 2026.
The announcement is disappointing news for both Barcelona and Newcastle, both of whom were allegedly interested in poaching Overmars to become sporting director at Camp Nou and St. James' Park respectively.
Not only will Barca and Newcastle not get their man, but they have been left slightly embarrassed at the fashion of the announcement from Ajax.
The Dutch giants simply tweeted the news with a caption of 'Stop Calling Marc' in reference to the teams looking to appoint him.
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Overmars has been in that role at Ajax for nearly a decade and has enjoyed a successful period, overseeing Eredivisie victories as well as a superb run to the semi-final stage of the Champions League in 2019.
He and the coaching staff at the club have been instrumental in the development of wonderkids like Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Ryan Gravenberch, too.
Overmars is a former Barcelona player and the Blaugrana were hoping to bring him back to work alongside new head coach Xavi.
Newcastle, meanwhile, wanted the Dutchman to help revamp their recruitment department after their Saudi-backed takeover.
Stop calling Marc 📞😉
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) December 8, 2021
Ajax and Overmars react to announcement
Overmars was delighted at the news, telling the official Ajax website:
"I still feel very excited by my work and get a lot of satisfaction out of it. The cooperation with my fellow board members is very good, as well as with the people at the Toekomst (the Ajax sports complex) with whom I work together in the fields of scouting, youth, transfers, and the like. I have a feeling that my work at Ajax is not done yet, so I would like to continue here."
President-Commissioner Leen Meijaard, meanwhile, said: "The Supervisory board is very pleased with Marc Overmars as Director of Football Affairs.
"Of course, the performance of the first team under his leadership is most notable. The team, led by Erik ten Hag, who was appointed by Marc, is exciting and successful, both nationally and internationally.
"Furthermore, we also see the good development in other technical football matters. With Marc in the management team, we think that the upward trend that our ambitious club has been on for a few years can be continued."
