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Tom Hamilton, Senior WriterSep 3, 2024, 05:49 AM ET
- • Joined ESPN in 2011
• Covered two Olympics, a pair of Rugby World Cups and two British & Irish Lions tours
• Previously rugby editor, and became senior writer in 2018
Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman has said Steven Bergwijn prioritised financial ambition over his own sporting aspirations after completing a €25 million ($27.6m) move to Saudi Pro League side Al Ittihad, adding he will not consider the forward for international duty for the foreseeable future.
Bergwijn’s move from Ajax to Al Ittihad was announced on Monday, and it has angered Koeman who said the transfer is different to the case of Georginio Wijnaldum when he left PSG for Al Ettifaq in September 2023.
“Georginio Wijnaldum once went that way because he had a problem at Paris Saint-Germain,” Koeman said. “He could only go to that country to play football until January. In Bergwijn’s case is that he goes at the age of 26, sporting ambition does not prevail. Not everyone thinks, fortunately, the same way. I think when you are 26 the main ambition should be sporting and not financial, but those are choices players make.”
Bergwijn will play under Laurent Blanc in Saudi Arabia in a team that includes N’Golo Kanté, Karim Benzema, Fabinho, Houssem Aouar, Predrag Rajkovic and Moussa Diaby.
Koeman said Bergwijn was not duty-bound to take up the Saudi offer.
“He could have stayed at Ajax, couldn’t he? And I think they pay OK at Ajax too. But yes, it’s his choice,” he said.
“I haven’t been in that situation myself. I could go to Barcelona. I think if Bergwijn could have gone to Barcelona, he wouldn’t have gone to Saudi Arabia either.”
The move looks to have hurt Bergwijn’s chances of adding to his 35 caps for the Netherlands.
“The book is basically closed for him, though,” Koeman said of Bergwijn’s international chances. “He has not contacted me about this. I think he knows how I think about this.”
Meanwhile, captain Virgil van Dijk has committed his future to the Netherlands until the 2026 World Cup at least, Koeman confirmed on Tuesday.
Koeman said he flew to Liverpool to have face-to-face talks with Van Dijk.
“I thought it was so important to go to him to see and feel with him: are you going to give it your all for another two years at the highest level and do you still see a future for yourself? And he does. And I do the same with him. All doubt is gone, he just goes on,” Koeman said.
“He admitted he did not reach the level you would expect from him as a player at the European Championship. As captain, I think he did a great job. But perhaps as a result, he put too much energy into others rather than into himself.”
