‘A sack of potatoes’ – Player’s fall since Tottenham exit ‘unimaginable, record transfer a disaster

Winger Steven Bergwijn has become a ‘sack of potatoes’ that Ajax must carry around, with his fall since joining Ajax from Tottenham a year ago ‘unimaginable’.

That’s according to journalist Sjourd Mossou, who believes the forward should be stripped of the Ajax captaincy as incoming manager John van ‘t Schip’s first act.

Bergwijn joined Ajax in July 2022 in a €31.25m deal from Tottenham after a disappointing two-year spell at Spurs following a €30m move from PSV Eindhoven in January 2020.

He had failed to establish himself for Spurs, quickly petering out following a bright start under Jose Mourinho and failing to impress the managers that followed.

He returned the Netherlands looking to get his career back on track but that has not been the case, with a tally of 20 goals and seven assists failing to impress.

He’s now largely seen as one of the major problems at the club with a recent report even indicating that they were hoping a club from Saudi Arabia would look to sign him and help the Dutch giants get their money back.

Whether that happens remains to be seen and, in the meantime, he continues to struggle with Ajax, a situation that seemingly wasn’t anticipated when he signed from Tottenham.

“Everyone agrees that Bergwijn should not be captain. Perhaps it was a clever trick to motivate him and there was hope that the penny would drop,” Voetbalzone report him saying.

“He has become a burden, a sack of potatoes on the back. I don’t think Josip Sutalo is great either, but he is a more logical captain than Bergwijn.

“it is unimaginable how he has sunk. Certainly, for a player worth thirty million euros. That has been a very long time, very painful.”