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WHAT HAPPENED?
Bergwijn’s transfer to Al Ittihad was completed for a reported €25 million (£21m/$27.6m) and was officially announced on Monday. The 26-year-old winger’s departure from Ajax to the Middle East has sparked criticism from Koeman, who contrasted Bergwijn’s situation with that of Georginio Wijnaldum, another Dutch player who made a move to Saudi Arabia but under different circumstances.
WHAT KOEMAN SAID
“Georginio Wijnaldum once went that way because he had a problem at Paris Saint-Germain,” Koeman told reporters.
“He could only go to that country to play football until January. In Bergwijn’s case is that he goes at the age of 26, sporting ambition does not prevail. Not everyone thinks, fortunately, the same way. I think when you are 26 the main ambition should be sporting and not financial, but those are choices players make.”
THE BIGGER PICTURE
At Al Ittihad, Bergwijn will be under the guidance of head coach Laurent Blanc, a former World Cup-winning player with France. The team also boasts a roster filled with high-profile players, including N’Golo Kanté, Karim Benzema, Fabinho, Houssem Aouar, Predrag Rajkovic, and Moussa Diaby. Despite the illustrious company, Koeman remains unimpressed by Bergwijn’s choice, believing the winger had viable alternatives in Europe or could have just continued with Ajax.
“He could have stayed at Ajax, couldn’t he? And I think they pay OK at Ajax too. But yes, it’s his choice,” he said.
“I haven’t been in that situation myself. I could go to Barcelona. I think if Bergwijn could have gone to Barcelona, he wouldn’t have gone to Saudi Arabia either. The book is basically closed for him, though. He has not contacted me about this. I think he knows how I think about this.”
