Tottenham Hotspur winger Steven Bergwijn has outlined his intentions to depart Spurs in the summer transfer window.
The Dutch international struggled for game time last season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and while he did play 25 times in the Premier League, he made just four starts and found game time hard to come by, particularly after the arrival of manager Antonio Conte and January loan signing of Dejan Kulusevski from Juventus, further lowering Bergwijn down the pecking order.
Much of Bergwijn’s best performances since last August have come on international duty, scoring four goals in his last three appearances for Louis van Gaal’s side, including the opener in the Dutch’s 4-1 win away at Belgium in the UEFA Nations League on Friday night.
Speaking to Dutch media outlet Algemeen Dagblad, Bergwijn, who has been credited with transfer interest from Dutch giants Ajax recently, has said that he wants to leave Tottenham, but his current focus is being on international duty with the Netherlands.
"Have I talked to [Ajax coach] Alfred Schreuder about my future?” said Bergwijn. “I'm at Oranje now and then we'll have a look. It would be nice if there was clarity soon. I just have to go play, but I want to leave Spurs now, that's for sure.
"Whether it is important that my new club plays in the Champions League? That's not even top priority. Though it would be nice. What's important is that I'm going to play."
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Prior to his move to Tottenham spent nine years at PSV Eindhoven, first joining them as a teenager in 2011 before being promoted to the first-team squad in the 2014/15 campaign. While at PSV, he made 149 first-team appearances and scored 31 goals in all competitions, a spell that saw him win the Eredivisie title three times.
Bergwijn has been linked recently with Ajax, a club he briefly played for at youth level prior to joining PSV. Speaking about the links with Ajax and a return to the Netherlands, he admits it is an option.
"I wasn't allowed to leave Spurs in the winter and then I didn't have any problems,” Bergwijn added. “The last few months I was hardly looked after there. Now I want to play somewhere weekly.
"That could be [an option], yes, [a return to the Eredivisie]. It's about my situation now, that has to be different." Those comments came shortly after Bergwijn’s national team boss Louis van Gaal stated that Bergwijn needed to leave Tottenham.
“I want him (Bergwijn) to go to Ajax as soon as possible,” said Van Gaal. “Tottenham don’t give him enough playing minutes and that is unbelievable when you see his qualities.”
Netherlands currently sit top of their UEFA Nations League group after beating Belgium. They take on Wales (June 8 and June 14) and Poland (June 11) in this month’s remaining international fixtures.
