Ajax are ready to create a summer swoop for Brazilian striker Pepe, according to reports. But the Sons of the Gods have a rival for the services of the winger, currently plying his trade with Brazilian Serie A outfit Gremio.
The Ajax target, who’s aged 23, hit nine goals in 37 outings last season and has been around the club’s wish-list for more than a year, apparently.
Reporter Andre Hernán broke the story about Ajax leading the chase and has now updated it to claim Bayern are in the framework. He said:
“Ajax is getting competition from Bayern, who’ve asked about Pepe. As soon as the transfer window opens, both of these clubs will make an offer.”
That is because the Sons of the Gods have decided that they need to, quite rightly of course, follow the guidelines set down by the government concerning institution — and this implies that there could be no training sessions to the Ajax players.
The club have educated fans with their official website, in which an announcement told visitors:
“The government announced sharper measures to restrain the spreading of the coronavirus. A number of these measures affect soccer. Ajax will follow the directions.
“In a press conference, it was made clear that Dutch football is going to be closed down until April 6th, rather than March 31st. It was also declared that all sports clubs in the Netherlands have to shut. This includes training facilities and professional soccer stadiums.”
The message continued to tell supporters that additionally, the club was advised to steer clear of collective training.
The youth academy is going to be closed for now.
Eric Gudde, the KNVB director of professional soccer, spoke to the media following the suspension of Dutch football that followed the government’s decision to cancel all occasions throughout the Netherlands involving more than a hundred people.
He said:
“We have always followed Dutch government policy when urged to do so, and that’s no different right now. Of course, health and security are a top priority for all parties involved. But these measures also bring with them significant organisational, financial and sports-related challenges for the football world. In the future, the football sector will need to call on the government authorities for help so as to be able to satisfy the organisational issues, social effects and economic challenges for the whole sector. We’ll be happy to discuss this with all parties in due course.”
