So, Deadline Day was interesting. For like, the first time in forever. We signed a Brazilian winger who is being called the New Neymar. We dumped Anwar El Ghazi, Mitchell Dijks and Tim Krul. There was a lot to discuss, but I’m a little uninspired. There’s not a lot I can say about those transfers. I don’t know Neres, and I have said everything there is to say about the three guys who left. And so, dear Ajacieden, I will try to relive the best Deadline Day ever. The tale of the Ajax pyjamas.
Back in 2011, we sold Luis Suarez to Liverpool. Obviously, a replacement was needed, and we went on the search for a new attacker. What a lot of people seem to forget is that even pre-Overmars Ajax had way too much trouble identifying a target, and on Deadline Day, they only just started negotiating a deal for a Suarez-replacement. The identified target? Bas Dost, striker of SC Heerenveen.
Dost had proven to be a decent striker at Heracles Almelo the year before, but he struggled at his new club, and Ajax offered a way out. What followed was one of the most crazy final days of the transfer market of all time. Ajax and Heerenveen negotiated all day long, but things seemed bleak, and that annoyed Dost. Which is why he did one of the most amazing things in Dutch football: he sued his club.
This move is highly irregular, but it happens every now and again in Dutch football. Suarez himself used this ‘court-case’ to force a move to Ajax, and Dost did the same. His lawyer confirmed that he wanted to move to Amsterdam badly, because (and I quote) ‘he slept in Ajax-pyjamas when he was a kid’. The case got him nowhere, however, but he got his medical right after, hoping Heerenveen would be a little bit more flexible in negotiations.
What followed was hours and hours of tense negotiating. Eventually, Dosts agent claimed there was a deal in place, making Ajax pay five million euros for him. However, the day was just a few minutes too short. They couldn’t finalise the details in time and Dost remained in Friesland. Probably for the best. The next season he went on to be the Eredivisie topscorer, something he is likely to repeat in the Portuguese competition this year.
I remember it being the most hectic and insane Deadline Day of my life. I was praying and hoping he’d sign all day, and eventually I was left insanely disappointed. It did, however, provide us with some of the best anecdotes in modern Ajax-history. The tale of a failed transfer and a guy in Ajax-pyjamas.
