Ronald Koeman bans ex-Premier League flop from Netherlands team after Saudi Arabia move
Harsh words.
Ronald Koeman has banished former Tottenham attacker Steven Bergwijn from the Netherlands squad after his move to the Saudi Pro League.
Despite two impressive seasons at Ajax, Bergwijn left the Eredivisie club on Monday to sign for Saudi side Al-Ittihad in a deal worth £17.7m.
The 26-year-old previously spent three seasons in the Premier League with Spurs but largely failed to hold down a permanent position in the starting XI, notching up just eight goals in 83 appearances in all competitions.
Bergwijn was capped 35 times for his country and featured twice in the Dutch side that reached the semi-finals of Euro 2024 before losing to England this summer.
However, Koeman has now insisted that Bergwijn will not be considered for selection after his most recent transfer as he took aim at the attacker’s lack of ambition.
‘The book is basically closed to him,’ former Ajax, PSV and Barcelona player Koeman said at his press conference. ‘He knows what I think about this.
‘When you are 26, your main ambition should be sporting, not financial. These are choices that players make.
‘I have never been in that situation, because I could go to Barcelona. He could have stayed at Ajax. That’s not bad, is it?
‘You have to respect that choice, but personally I wouldn’t [have moved to Saudi Arabia].’
Koeman has also not called up experienced striker Memphis Depay who is still without a club having left Atletico Madrid in the summer.
However, the 61-year-old has received a boost in the form of current captain Virgil van Dijk who has been convinced to stay on with the national team until the 2026 World Cup after face-to-face talks with Koeman in England.
‘I thought it was so important to go to him to see and feel with him,’ Koeman said of the Liverpool centre-back.
‘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.
‘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.’
The Netherlands will play Bosnia and Herzegovina in Eindhoven on Saturday before facing Germany in Amsterdam on Tuesday.
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