He will come, he will not come. On the list, not on the list. Verbal agreement, not verbal agreement. Ajax’s spring courtship with Owen Wijndal was very similar to Soap’s.

In the end, the team from Amsterdam managed to win the AZ captain from Alkmaar for around ten million euros and a princely salary. Big money but no irresponsible risk for the 11-time international who, despite his 22 years, has already proven to be one of the best left-backs in the Netherlands.

But Ajax coach Alfred Schreuder does not use him. “You have a national player on the bench, so you always choose the national player?” Theo Janssen was surprised on RTL 7 after the 4-2 defeat at Naples.

“Otherwise it would only be ten million euros wasted. Wijndal is just a great player, isn’t he? But maybe he’s training like a newspaper, we don’t know.”

From Kogerveld to Oranje

Growing up in the Zaandam district of Kogerveld, Wijndal ended up at the AZ youth academy as a 10-year-old boy after an intermediate step at HFC Haarlem. In February 2017, aged just 17, he made his senior debut in a 4-2 home loss to PSV, but it was two more years before he became a fixture at Alkmaar.

And then it went fast. At AZ, Wijndal impresses with his attacking energy, but he also asserted himself defensively. With his pals Calvin Stengs and Myron Boadu, he was the eye-catcher of a whirlwind team that seemed to be on the way to something very special until Corona thwarted the competition.

National coach Frank de Boer gave Wijndal his orange debut in the November 2020 match against Spain, crowning the evening at the Johan Cruijff Arena with an assist on Donny van de Beek.

After that, he was asked if he would be a left-back for the Netherlands national team in the coming years? Wijndal replied with a disarming smile that seemed at odds with his confident words: “I think so, don’t you? If you play well against Spain, you’ve shown it against the best players in the world. But I have it to no longer show.”

Generous smiles on The Future

Wijndal showed it. He played at the European Championship against Ukraine and Austria. He became captain at AZ. Undisputed, as a 21-year-old routine.

Former Ajax manager Erik ten Hag made it clear that Wijndal was on his wish list. And although AZ were still a bit against it, when asked, coach Pascal Jansen said he also had some Ajax players on a list – “a laundry list”. The change seemed inevitable.

And that’s how Wijndal stood at De Toekomst’s training ground last summer with his generous smile. But now the smile is gone.

Wijndal started as the first choice of new coach Alfred Schreuder, gave two assists in the lost battle for the Johan Cruijjf Scale against PSV and played 90 minutes against Fortuna Sittard and FC Groningen.

Those were also the last minutes Wijndal made in the Amsterdam main force; The defender was injured. Schreuder expected him back soon, but that was disappointing.

Only on September 20 – during the international match – did the left-back return to the pitch in a close match with FC Utrecht. But even after that, Schreuder didn’t let the 11-time national player speak to him.

Even now not that Schreuder has to puzzle over his defense. Against Napoli he relied on the much less agile Calvin Bassey on the left flank. And when Bassey switched to the right wing after the break, 18-year-old Youri Baas was allowed to play.

“Wijndal has been injured for five weeks,” Schreuder explained his choice. “He only played one practice game. And Baas is fine too. I’ll choose Baas and not Wijndal then.”

dilemmas

Doesn’t sound illogical. And again. Because how can Wijndal get fit if he doesn’t get any minutes? Time is of the essence as Wijndal now also has to put up with Daley Blind and Tyrell Malacia with the orange.

In normal times, a home game at Excelsior (coincidentally the club where rival Baas went through youth academy) would be an excellent opportunity to give returnees minutes.

Of the previous 22 duels, Excelsior only traveled back to Rotterdam once with a point. Back then, in 2007, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar made it 2-2 before half-time and thus avoided an embarrassment.

Now Huntelaar is watching from the stands, hoping his buys will pay off on the field. Purchases as Owen Wijndal.