The Ajax fishing in the pond Feyenoord: tons of pumping in Sparta | Football

"We do not want to steal small clubs, but rather reward them," said director Marc Overmars. "By supporting Sparta, they can continue to offer quality in their area."

Saoud Ouarali, head of training, has been discussing for years with the Rotterdam-West club, with whom an agreement was reached yesterday. "The choice of Sparta is not a coincidence, but in the last ten years the program has produced players like Depay, Strootman, De Roon, Wijnaldum, Dumfries and Willems. Warm ties for years, "said Overmars. "He is strategically a good partner, well placed," he said in Feyenoord's court

. Sparta receives a substantial sum to support the training and screening of young people. In scouting, this means that Ajax can again attract the club to great talents who could make an intermediate step in Sparta. "And we call at Ajax when other very talented clubs are interested," says technical manager Henk van Stee, who thinks the Spartans are not selling their souls. "We keep our own identity, we remain decisive in this respect."

The Rotterdam-Rotterdam remain free, despite the substantial investment of Amsterdam, to determine their own course in training. "It's true that Scouting is more important," says Van Stee. "Ajax now shows how important it is to train in the Netherlands," said Van Stee. "In this way, the club provides a helping hand to further improve the youth academy."

Previously, Ajax had put no end to a gentleman's agreement for not stealing talent. "So you have not been allowed to remove players from big and small players, that makes no sense," says Overmars, who has long emphasized the importance of training for the Netherlands. "We reward training clubs in the front and back.With each transfer of a young player, we pay more than mandatory training allowance and, if a transfer becomes a success, allow clubs to communicate at a later sale.We have this agreement with many clubs, but with Sparta, the agreements are now structural. "