Gerry Hamstra leaves Ajax as technical manager. The departure of Hamstra, whose contact continued until the summer of 2024, has been in the air for a while, but has now been confirmed by the club.
For example, De Telegraaf reported two weeks ago that Hamstra himself had indicated to the club that he wanted to leave. Ajax and Hamstra would then have negotiated about the buyout of the contract.
“We have indicated to Gerry that we will organize this differently,” says general manager Edwin van der Sar in a press release about the departure. “We understand his choice and would like to thank him for his efforts.”
interim
Hamstra worked for Ajax for just over two years, where he started as the right-hand man of technical director Marc Overmars. After the latter had to leave at the beginning of 2022, Hamstra took over his duties on an interim basis together with former striker Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Hamstra would eventually continue to work in that role until his departure.
Hamstra and Huntelaar went through a difficult period at Ajax. The two would spend a total of 113 million euros on new players, many of whom have not yet been able to convince.
In addition, the choice of trainer Alfred Schreuder as a replacement for the departed Erik ten Hag turned out to be unfortunate. Schreuder would be fired after eighteen matches, when Ajax was 5th. Ajax is now second, but with eight points behind Feyenoord, the national title seems to be almost out of sight with seven games to go.
Ward
It is still unclear who will take over Hamstra’s duties. In recent weeks, Ajax would be talking to Julian Ward, who is now technical director at Liverpool. Several Dutch media later reported that those negotiations have since been stopped.