It is thanks to Gerald Vanenburg that Mohamed Ihattaren’s football career is not over yet. That is what the twenty-year-old attacker says in an interview with Ajax TV†
Ajax is renting Ihattaren from Juventus this calendar year, with an option to buy. The former PSV player gets a new chance with the champion. He arrived in the capital at the beginning of this year with a lot of overweight, but looked well-trained and fit for training and in Tuesday’s practice match against SV Meppen (3-0).
“Vanenburg texted me to talk to me,” says Ihattaren about the 58-year-old former international. “We immediately clicked. He said: players with your qualities can’t stop, just put that out of your mind. We started training a day later.”
“Gerald is my biggest fan,” Ihattaren continued. “He’s a good guy. We used to go for walks together a lot. But also talking, training, calling. I cried at him, everything. He was like a big brother to me. I could tell him everything too, still. I am very grateful to him for that.”
Thanks to Vanenburg, Ihattaren was able to end a difficult period. “I was not feeling well mentally for a while and was just very unhappy,” he agrees. “I had become really heavy, just not a pro anymore.”
Mohamed Ihattaren participated for an hour in the practice match against SV Meppen on Wednesday.
Mohamed Ihattaren participated for an hour in the practice match against SV Meppen on Wednesday. Photo: Pro Shots
‘Hopefully I will make people even more proud’
At Ajax he was told that he has his future in his own hands. “They told me, do you want to work hard for six months and play in the main squad next year, or mess around for six months and your career is ready? It really took some getting used to, but I’m very happy with where I am now.”
Ihattaren, who played in the exhibition game with the German SV Meppen on Tuesday, therefore expects that he is on the eve of a good season. “I am on the right track. I am fit and everyone is happy. The trainer is also happy with me. Hopefully I will make people even more proud.”
Trainer Alfred Schreuder already expressed his confidence in Ihattaren on Friday. “He is now in dressing room 1, as we call it here. That is already a nice reward for him. Now he has to get match rhythm and stay fit. He was so good at a young age. You saw that at PSV. The class is dripping still rid of him.”