Derk Boerrigter has stated his former club Ajax are weaker now than they were at the start of the summer after selling him, Christian Eriksen, and Toby Alderweireld.
- By Michael Bell
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The Dutch winger left the Eredivisie champions this summer for Scottish Premier League side Celtic, after falling out of favour with coach Frank de Boer.
Now with the two clubs set to meet in the Champions League, Boerrigter has stated his belief that Ajax are now a weaker team than when he left the club.
Boerrigter said, “Ajax have lost a couple of important players. Eriksen is an excellent talent and very skilful. He’s a top midfielder who can score goals and provide assists. So they’ve lost quality in midfield.
“They also sold Alderweireld who is a good defender, so that’s quality gone from the backline too. And I think a young player will take over from him.
“They are definitely weaker now than they were at the start of the transfer window. They’ve lost three good players, including myself.
“They’ve bought Lerin Duarte from Heracles, who is the same type as Eriksen. But we’ll see how he does because Ajax are a bigger club than Heracles.
“Bojan Krkic is on loan, he is also a very good player and used to play for Barcelona. And they’ve got the defender Mike van der Hoorn from Utrecht. He’s a big guy but it remains to be seen how he will do there.
“Am I surprised they let myself and the others go? Maybe they wanted the money to invest in new players, I don’t know. Eriksen only had one year left on his contract.
“At Ajax they have a policy that if you have one year left they either offer you a new deal or sell you. But they’ve obviously gone for the second option.”
Ajax will travel to Glasgow to face Celtic in over a months time, as the two look set to battle for third place in a Champions League group also containing Barcelona, and AC Milan.
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