Journalist believes club are paying ‘foolish’ fee to sign Tottenham player 

Dutch journalist Henk Spaan has said that Ajax are ‘foolish’ to pay €32.5m (£27.8m) to sign Steven Bergwijn from Tottenham this summer.

Bergwijn struggled for game time under Antonio Conte last season and the Dutchman’s exit looked inevitable this summer.

After strengthening their forward line even further with the addition of Richarlison last week, it appears the North London club have come to an agreement with Ajax over Bergwijn’s sale following weeks of negotiations.

Fabrizio Romano revealed a couple of days ago that the winger is in Amsterdam to undergo a medical before signing on the dotted line with the Eredivisie giants.

He stated that Spurs and Ajax had agreed on a fee of around £25.8m for the former PSV Eindhoven man.

However, Dutch journalist Mike Verweij, who is a reliable source when it comes to all things Ajax, subsequently revealed that the fee agreed between the two clubs for the 24-year-old is €32.5m (£27.8m).

Spaan has now suggested that Ajax could have got Bergwijn for a much lower fee had they signed him during the January transfer window.

He told Ajax Showtime: “That (the fee) is also foolish. Ajax has been working on it for at least one and a half years. There were earlier moments to take him over if Ajax had acted faster and more adequately.

“Because of his goals against Leicester City and his good play in the Dutch team, other clubs in the Premier League are also waking up. The market value is determined there.

“That they now have to pay 32.5 million is a policy error. I think they were able to get him for 24 million euros earlier. Levy is not interested in the position of a player. He just looks at the market. He is not interested in the football aspect.”

Spurs Web Opinion

Even though Spurs seemed to change their stance on Bergwijn in January following his brace against Leicester, I suspect Spaan is right in saying that Tottenham would have likely accepted around £23m-£25m for the winger in the winter if Ajax had stumped up the cash.

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