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Netherlands manager Ronald Koeman has excluded Steven Bergwijn from the Dutch national team following the winger’s move from Ajax to Al-Ittihad.
The 26-year-old was part of Koeman’s squad at Euro 2024 and made two appearances as the Dutch exited the competition at the semi-finals, but Koeman has said that now, he will not be part of the national team “in principle”.
Bergwijn joined the Saudi Arabian club for a fee of €21m before the end of the country’s transfer window on 2 September, having moved back to the Netherlands in July 2022.
Speaking at a press conference ahead of the Netherlands’ Nations League match against Bosnia and Herzegovina, Koeman said: “The book is basically closed to him. 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.”
Alex Kroes, Ajax’s technical director, said that Bergwijn “made no secret of the fact that, if a good offer came from abroad, he would make the move”.
Koeman did reference Georginio Wijnaldum, who was in the Dutch squad for Euro 2024 despite playing at Saudi Arabian club Al-Ettifaq, though he said that the former Liverpool man “had problems at Paris Saint-Germain and this was the only opportunity for him to play. In addition, there is a difference in age”.
Koeman also spoke on the futures of other Dutch players, including Wijnaldum and his former club teammate Virgil van Dijk, who has committed his future to the Oranje until the 2026 World Cup.
“I thought it was so important to go to him to see and feel with him: 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,” Koeman said.
“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,” added Koeman.
