Ajax boss Alfred Schreuder has revealed what he told Mohammed Kudus in order to keep him at the club amid interest from Everton during the summer.
Kudus was wanted by the Blues in the closing weeks of the window, with one report at the time suggesting that a loan deal had been agreed. However, no deals never fully materialised, despite rumours in the Netherlands suggesting the 22-year-old was refusing to train in order to force through a move.
At the time it was claimed that the Dutch champions were insistent that they didn’t lose any more players after a summer of considerable outgoings. And now addressing the interest, Schreuder has revealed he informed Kudus he would become a key member of his squad this season if he remained at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
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“During the period that Everton wanted him, I also told him: You are still going to be very important to us,” he told SoccerNews.nl via Sports Witness.
“That has come true and I have also indicated to him to think less in positions, but mainly in possibilities on the pitch. Having a completely different type of striker with him than Brobbey, I see as a great luxury.”
Kudus has enjoyed a positive start to the new season with seven goals in 11 appearances in all competitions, including a strike against Liverpool in the Champions League, and speaking last month, he opened on Everton's interest in him.
"Everton offered me a great opportunity and I wanted to try it," he recalled to Dutch outlet NOS. "No footballer wants to sit on the bench and neither do I.
"Although I understood that not everyone can play all the time, Everton seemed like a good option at the time. It wasn't that I didn't want to train, but I'm human and had a lot to deal with in a very short time. The chapter is now over and I'm still here."
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