Owen Wijndal's Unexpected Turnaround at Ajax

Owen Wijndal was supposed to be gone by now.

Last summer, after four seasons at Ajax, the left-back had packed his things, said his goodbyes and braced himself for the next chapter. The club were ready to move on, too. His contract could even have been terminated. Then, at the last moment, the move collapsed. The door that looked firmly shut creaked open again.

Months later, Wijndal is not only still at Ajax – he is back in the team, back in form, and back in the conversation.

“I've had to fight my way back a few times already,” he told De Telegraaf. “Of course I'm happy with how things are going now. But at the same time, I know how football works. You're only as good as your last match.”

That line sums up his reality. At a club where patience is short and standards are high, Wijndal had every reason to think his story in Amsterdam was over when technical director Jordi Cruyff moved decisively in his position. Two new left-backs arrived: Caio Henrique and Jofre Torrents. On paper, that looked like the end of the road.

The message seemed clear. Ajax were open to letting him go. They explored ways to part ways, including a contract termination. Inside the dressing room, the farewells had already been said. For a player who had once arrived with big expectations, the exit felt brutal, sudden, and final.

Then nothing happened. No transfer, no termination. Just silence and rumours.

Behind the scenes, whispers grew that Wijndal was clinging to his contract because of a generous salary. The narrative was simple and unforgiving: he stayed for the money.

He has heard that one often enough.

“Yeah, yeah, yeah! The salary, right?” he replied, laughing, when the subject came up. “I do hear that a lot, but it really isn't true. I can earn good money at other clubs too. If money had been the most important thing, I'd have left long ago.”

He does not dodge the question, he attacks it.

“That story about my salary simply isn't true,” he continued. “I stayed because I wanted to be at Ajax and because I still wanted to show what I can do here. That has always been my motivation.”

This is the core of his stance: staying was not an act of comfort, but defiance. With new signings in his position and a club apparently ready to cut ties, Wijndal chose the hardest option – remain, compete, and try to reclaim a place that many assumed he had already lost.

The recent upturn in form is his answer. Not in headlines or declarations, but in performances.

For Wijndal, this is not a farewell tour. “Far from over” is how his chapter at Ajax feels from his side. His contract runs until mid-2027, and the idea of an extension – unthinkable a year ago – is no longer absurd to him.

He does not know what Ajax are thinking. There have been no talks, no signals, no offers. But if the club come calling?

“It would be quite funny, considering everything that has happened over the past few years,” he admitted. “Of course I would think about it if Ajax want me to stay.”

There is a hint of irony in that, but also a quiet conviction. The player who was almost pushed out now talks openly about the possibility of staying longer.

“I've been here quite a long time now,” he said. “But I haven't heard anything yet, and as long as that's the case, there's little point in thinking about it too much.”

For now, the reality is simple. No negotiations, no guarantees, just a left-back who was nearly out of the door playing his way back into relevance. Ajax tried to move on without Owen Wijndal. The question now is whether they can afford to.