Ajax' Transfer Policy Lacks Ambition

It was just another transfer which was announced in the whole transfer-circus that is taking place these days. Ajax have announced the signing of FC Twente defender Rob Wielaert for an undisclosed fee.

Nothing odd about it, a top side signs a player from one of the other teams in the league. In my eyes, there’s more to this situation than meets the eye. This signing is showing a definite lack of ambition and possibly even long term vision.

Ajax are an ambitious team. They want to compete for the Dutch title every season and they want to perform well in Europe, which in their case means making it into the second round of the Champions League or the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

In order to reach these goals, you need talented players. Players capable of performing consistently well in Europe, players with the physical, mental and technical abilities of performing on the highest level possible in Europe.

Now if you ask me, Rob Wielaert is a decent defender. He’s strong in the air and has a proper pass. The man has vision and he can coach a defence. Those are his main strengths.

Ajax have signed him to act as coach in defence, someone with experience who can lead the defence and who can still mark his opponent out of a match at the highest level.

Now I’m sure Wielaert is an experienced and seasoned professional, that much is true, but when we look at the level of the club he has been active for, it becomes painfully obvious that he lacks the experience of playing regular football at a real top-club and therefore lacks the experience at the level Ajax is striving for.

Also, as I mentioned earlier, Wielaert is a decent defender, but not really a proper man-marker and certainly not one who can hold his own at the highest level, as became painfully obvious when FC Twente met Arsenal in the qualifiers for the Champions League.

His lack of marking skills at the highest level are probably due to the fact that he started his career as a wing-back at PSV, which is an entirely different role which demands a completely different skill-set.

This means Wielaert has a good pass and he has mastered the skill of moving forward to support the midfielders, but he is not a pure defender, he is not a killer in the back-line.

Basically, Ajax have signed an average defender, who is not really up to the standards of the level Ajax want to compete at and who has never played at the level Ajax is aiming for. Wielaert is not a top defender on the European stage and will never become a top defender at this stage in his career.

Signing him is showing a lack of ambition or at least living up to the ambitions and goals you have set for your club. Wielaert is, in my humble opinion, not capable of playing in the Champions League against renowned strikers.

So, if you intend to play at such a level, you should sign players who are capable of playing at such a level, even if you have to pay some extra money for them. Failing to do so is a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of fading ambition.

The club is not gunning for the best they can get with the money they have, they are settling for second best. There are better albeit more expensive alternatives available for the position for which Ajax have signed Rob Wielaert, such as Wielaert’s team-mate Douglas for example.

Settling for second best is a sign of weakness, which is not befitting for a club of stature, such as Ajax once was and is hoping to become. Ambition starts out in the board room and the Ajax board have made a signing which just states a lack of ambition.

Ancient history are the days in which Ajax attracted some of Europe's finest young talents, such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Cristian Chivu, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, and Maxwell. Even if they cost a bit more cash, they were regarded as investments in a better future, both financially (long term) and on the pitch.

If Ajax want to rebuild its status worldwide and regain its position as a top-side in Europe. In my humble opinion, they’re not showing this ambition by signing a player who simply lacks the experience, ability and potential at such a level.