Ajax lodge formal bid for Steven Bergwijn, talks ongoing

Most of our summer transfer window coverage thus far has focused on incoming players, and that makes sense considering how unusually busy Tottenham Hotspur have been even before the window has opened. But this summer is also likely going to feature a large number of outgoings as well as incomings.

One of the players very likely to make a departure from Tottenham is Dutch winger Steven Bergwijn, who has been strongly linked with a return to the Netherlands since January. Ajax in particular has been closely tied to Bergwijn, and the Dutch champions even tried to bid for Stevie at the beginning of the new year. Now, according to De Telegraaf (via Fabrizio Romano), Ajax is back in for Bergwijn, and has even made a formal bid.

The story in De Telegraaf is subscription-locked, but thankfully SportWitness is around to rescue us from the tyranny of European paywalls. Romano’s quick summary of the story appears correct — it states that Ajax have renewed their interest, but it doesn’t say what Ajax’s bid is, though it seems to suggest that there will likely be substantial negotiation before any deal is agreed.

Spurs wanted €30m in January for Bergwijn, a figure that Ajax thought was too expensive, and Tottenham were apparently reluctant to sell at that time. That situation has changed, clearly — we can probably safely assume that Ajax’s initial bid here is substantially lower than the €30m, and De Telegraaf says Ajax believes they can get Stevie for as little as €20m.

Bergwijn is likely to be sold, and I haven’t heard of any other clubs seriously interested in him at this time, so I’d guess that the Ajax deal happens at some point. Who knows what it’ll look like — perhaps a smaller initial fee with a sell-on fee or performance clauses, maybe a loan with an obligation to buy. But I’d guess that it happens. Stevie wants to leave, Spurs don’t appear to be too invested in keeping him around. Everything else is just horse trading.