With Ismaïl Aissati, Miralem Sulejmani and Darío Cvitanich all arriving this summer, Ajax have arguably bolstered both their midfield and frontline. And now they have turned to Barcelona defenders Oleguer and Henrique to strengthen their defence too.
The Johan Cruijff Schaal holders were linked with Oleguer earlier this month, but today the Algemeen Dagblad reveals that their technical manager Danny Blind and acting managing director Henri van der Aat arrived in the capital of Catalonia yesterday to seal the transfer.
The Amsterdam connection
Oleguer Presas i Renom joined Barcelona’s reserve squad, Atlétic, at the age of 21, seven years ago and was promoted to the first team in November 2002 by Louis van Gaal. Interestingly enough, he was established by another Dutchman strongly linked with Ajax, Frank Rijkaard.
He has since featured in 175 competitive matches, albeit scoring just once in a 4-0 sound victory at Málaga, back on April 24, 2005. Of course, this is not what Marco van Basten would be asking of him. A steady centre-back capable of playing on the right, Oleguer would be set to replace the departed Johnny Heitinga, who moved the other way around by leaving Ajax to join Barça’s Spanish rivals Atlético Madrid. The 28-year-old’s contract expires in mid-2010.
Dutch media estimate that the move will go through perhaps within hours for a fee in the region of five million euros. In any case, the package is not expected to come cheap, as Oleguer earns two million a year at Barcelona, even though competition for places and a broken hand narrowed his 2007-’08 outings down to 15.
Henrique move back on?
Even if the Dutch giants do sign Oleguer, that won’t be the end of their pre-season transfers, as they are currently looking for two central defenders. The second one could also come from Barcelona, where Ajax bought Gabri from two years ago, as they have renewed their interest in Brazilian Henrique, who only snubbed them some weeks ago to sign for Barça. New boss Pep Guardiola thinks it would be best for the 21-year-old defender, whose transfer from Palmeiras cost a reported 10 million euros, to move elsewhere on loan first, but he has yet to agree a deal with Bayer Leverkusen, who are also in the hunt.
The Johan Cruijff Schaal holders were linked with Oleguer earlier this month, but today the Algemeen Dagblad reveals that their technical manager Danny Blind and acting managing director Henri van der Aat arrived in the capital of Catalonia yesterday to seal the transfer.
The Amsterdam connection
Oleguer Presas i Renom joined Barcelona’s reserve squad, Atlétic, at the age of 21, seven years ago and was promoted to the first team in November 2002 by Louis van Gaal. Interestingly enough, he was established by another Dutchman strongly linked with Ajax, Frank Rijkaard.
He has since featured in 175 competitive matches, albeit scoring just once in a 4-0 sound victory at Málaga, back on April 24, 2005. Of course, this is not what Marco van Basten would be asking of him. A steady centre-back capable of playing on the right, Oleguer would be set to replace the departed Johnny Heitinga, who moved the other way around by leaving Ajax to join Barça’s Spanish rivals Atlético Madrid. The 28-year-old’s contract expires in mid-2010.
Dutch media estimate that the move will go through perhaps within hours for a fee in the region of five million euros. In any case, the package is not expected to come cheap, as Oleguer earns two million a year at Barcelona, even though competition for places and a broken hand narrowed his 2007-’08 outings down to 15.
Henrique move back on?
Even if the Dutch giants do sign Oleguer, that won’t be the end of their pre-season transfers, as they are currently looking for two central defenders. The second one could also come from Barcelona, where Ajax bought Gabri from two years ago, as they have renewed their interest in Brazilian Henrique, who only snubbed them some weeks ago to sign for Barça. New boss Pep Guardiola thinks it would be best for the 21-year-old defender, whose transfer from Palmeiras cost a reported 10 million euros, to move elsewhere on loan first, but he has yet to agree a deal with Bayer Leverkusen, who are also in the hunt.
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