Ajax secure Sneijder's future
Wednesday, May 21, 2003
Article summary
AFC Ajax have extended 18-year-old midfield player Wesley Sneijder's contract until the summer of 2007.
Article body
AFC Ajax have extended Wesley Sneijder’s contract until the summer of 2007.
Rapid rise
The Dutch club will be delighted to secure the services of the 18-year-old midfield player who shot to prominence this year. Sneijder broke into the Ajax first team in February, making his debut in the Eredivisie match against Willem II. He went on to become a regular in domestic matches and in the UEFA Champions League, where the club reached the quarter-finals, this past season.
International debut
Sneijder also made his debut for the Dutch Under-21 squad against the Czech Republic on 28 March before being elevated to the full national team for the international friendly match against Portugal on 30 April.
‘Huge talent’
"Wesley Sneijder is another huge talent from our own youth department,” Ajax’s technical manager, Leo Beenhakker, said. “It is beautiful for the club that we have managed to sign him until 2007. In the past the opinion was that Ajax was only delivering players for clubs abroad. But in the totally changed transfer market, today Ajax manages to keep the talents in their own first team. That is a very positive development."
