After his call up to the Netherlands U21 squad, Roma winger Justin Kluivert spoke to Fox Sports about Ajax, the national team, and why he has grown in the Italian capital despite having limited chances in Serie A.
- By George Smith
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“I have no regrets for choosing Roma. But I always follow Ajax and it was beautiful to see the team beat Real Madrid. Sometimes I think it would be beautiful to still be there” the 19-year-old reflected.
This comes with Kluivert having spent a lot of time on the bench this season, often being deployed as a sub in the final minutes. Yet the son of Ajax and Netherlands legend Patrick Kluivert remains positive: “At Roma I’ve grown a lot, even as a person. To live alone makes you stronger.
“I am now a better player than I was at Ajax. I feel that, I know that. I learned a lot, also off the field. More than I could have learned at Ajax. But maybe I could have learned other things at Ajax.”
Having made two appearances for the full international team already despite being called up for Jong Orange for this round of fixtures, Kluivert stated that “I don’t know that if I stayed with Ajax I would have been called up by Koeman, I believe everything happens for a reason. Maybe it would have been the same thing.”