Siep Engelen01 Nov 2024, 19:58
Last updated: Nov 1, 2024, 8:24 PM
Benjamin Tahirovic rejected an offer from Coventry City this summer, Mike Verweij reveals in the Kick-offpodcast van The Telegraph. The purchase of Sven Mislintat was presented with a financially attractive offer, but nevertheless chose to stay with Ajax.
“Tahirovic of course never had the idea that he could join Ajax, sign for five years and earn so much,” Verweij begins. “But now he is in the position of even turning down a nice club in England.”
Verweij says that he coincidentally found out in a conversation this week that the Ajax midfielder could have gone to Coventry City this summer. “The clubs were out and Ajax was prepared to add a few million to the eight million they had paid for him,” Verweij reveals.
However, there was one major stumbling block that blocked the deal: Tahirovic himself. “He didn’t like the Championship, despite a team that performs reasonably well at that level.” Valentijn Driessen understands that Tahirovic chose to stay in Amsterdam.
“That’s the second level in England!” he shouts indignantly. “At Ajax it is much easier to get noticed by other clubs in much larger competitions.” However, according to Verweij, Tahirovic had improved even more financially at Coventry City.
“He could earn even more there than he earns in Amsterdam, but to Ajax’s frustration he stayed put,” said Verweij. “That was probably also the reason why he initially had to train with Jong Ajax. Because he could go to Coventry City.”
Tahirovic therefore chose to stay at Ajax, although he does not have to count on much playing time under Francesco Farioli for the time being. The 21-year-old midfielder from Bosnia-Herzegovina only played 125 minutes for Ajax in all competitions this season.
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