Real Madrid: Van de Beek turns down Mourinho for Bernabéu
According to reports in the Netherlands, the Ajax midfielder turned down Tottenham as he waits on a possible transfer to Real Madrid next summer.
Ajax and Netherlands midfielder Donny van de Beek has reportedly passed on the opportunity to join Tottenham and is waiting on an offer from Real Madrid, according to De Telegraaf. The Dutch daily states that Van de Beek was not overly enamoured with the idea of playing under José Mourinho and turned down a January move to the Premier League in the hopes that Madrid will reignite their interest next summer.
Van de Beek has previously ruled out a January move, stating that he intends to see out the season with Ajax, but remains open to a change of scenery ahead of the 2020-21 campaign, following in the footsteps of other young stars of Ajax’s Champions League semi-final run Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong, who joined Juventus and Barcelona last summer.
Van de Beek keen on Real Madrid move
The 22-year-old, who has racked up 159 appearances for Ajax and has been capped nine times by the Netherlands, has been on Real Madrid’s radar for some time and his ability to operate further up the pitch than most midfielders is seen by Zinedine Zidane as a boost to his options as Van de Beek can support Karim Benzema as well as plying a more traditional central midfield role.
Ajax value Van de Beek at around 55 million euros but it may cost more than that to land the midfielder depending on Ajax’s season. The Dutch club squeezed €75m out of Juventus for De Ligt and the same fee from Barcelona for Frenkie de Jong.