Ten Hag ready to take advantage of Ajax stalemate to secure free transfer

Daniel Cabot Kerkdijk

• Updated: 16 Mar 2023 09:20 GMT
• 3 min read

Manchester United are one of the clubs that have inquired about the situation of Amourricho van Axel Dongen at Ajax, Fabrizio Romano reports.

The transfer market expert states that the Premier League giants, led by Erik ten Hag, are interested in signing the 18-year-old attacker. Van Axel Dongen's contract is expiring and both parties have still not reached an agreement on a longer collaboration.

According to Romano, Ajax wants to capture the teenager until the summer of 2027. However, the club and player cannot agree on the terms of a new contract.

Man Utd are certainly not the only European top club interested in Van Axel Dongen, who has an excellent negotiating position.

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Van Axel Dongen's up-and-down season

The Ajax forward, though, has suffered from some nasty injuries, as a result of which his progression stagnated.

Van Dongen, who will turn 19 in September, tore his ankle ligament shortly after the start of this campaign and last season he also had to miss five months because of issues with the same joint.

He made his debut in Ajax's first team under the leadership of Ten Hag. On December 21, 2021, he played minutes during the cup win over Barendrecht. A month later, he was given his first minutes in the Eredivisie. Five minutes before the end, he came on during the league match against FC Utrecht but he has played only one top-team match since.

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Van Axel Dongen has played a total of 21 matches in the Eerste Divisie, 12 of which have been this season. In total, he has three goals and four assists.

The teenager spoke to Football Zone about his future this week: “My goal is to succeed at Ajax. Ajax is, of course, the most beautiful club in the Netherlands and the best club to show yourself at. At the moment, I'm just busy with myself and trying to stay fit.

“I just want to play as many matches as possible now, so I'm not super concerned with that expiring contract, but of course I just want to stay at Ajax.”

He acknowledges that it is a season with ups and downs due to injuries.

“For me, the most important thing is to play football and have fun. The rest will take care of itself. I know that if I stay fit, things will take care of themselves,” he said.

Ten Hag and Man Utd will continue to monitor his situation closely.