Wout Weghorst is playing on borrowed time at Ajax. Everyone around the club feels it. The contract of the 33-year-old striker is running down, renewal is not on the table, and the conversation has already moved on to where he lands next rather than whether he stays.
For weeks, the noise has grown around a return to FC Twente. It would be a domestic move with a neat narrative arc: the seasoned international leading a club with Champions League ambitions. Ajax watcher Mike Verweij of De Telegraaf went so far as to call it a very realistic scenario on the Kick-Off podcast, stressing that the chances are “strong” that Weghorst continues his career in Enschede.
“I think Weghorst could be on his way to FC Twente, if FC Twente want him. Ten Hag will be keen on him; he knows him well. There’s a good chance Weghorst will go to Twente,” Verweij said, underlining how much the forward’s future now seems to lie away from Amsterdam.
The irony is that Weghorst has only just fought his way back into the spotlight at Ajax. For a long spell he lived in the shadow of Kasper Dolberg, reduced to a reserve role while the Dane led the line. Under new manager Óscar García, that script flipped. The towering striker forced his way into the starting XI, his relentless work and penalty-box presence finally rewarded.
On Saturday, he marked that rise with a goal – against FC Twente, of all opponents. He did his part, found the net, gave Ajax a platform. It still wasn’t enough. The Amsterdam side slumped to a 1-2 home defeat, a result that cut through the brief feel-good story around his resurgence.
Then came the moment that said more than any contract rumour. Shortly after half-time, García called him ashore. Don-Angelo Konadu stepped to the touchline, the board went up, and Weghorst trudged off, visibly seething. When he reached the sideline, he pointedly refused to shake his manager’s hand. No theatrics, just a cold, deliberate snub.
The frustration didn’t end there. After the match, Cristian Willaert tried to secure a post-game interview. Weghorst declined, shutting down another avenue of explanation. For a player weighing his options, silence can be as telling as any statement.
Because he is weighing them. According to Parool journalist Jop van Kempen, Twente are not alone in the queue. Several foreign clubs have been linked, with Benfica emerging as one of the most intriguing possibilities. Van Kempen notes that José Mourinho, now in charge in Lisbon, could see something in Weghorst’s profile. “Wout and José – that strikes me as a brilliant combination,” he writes.
It is not hard to see why the idea catches the eye. Benfica’s current first-choice striker, Vangelis Pavlidis, has put together another outstanding season and looks primed for a summer move. His departure would tear a sizeable hole through Mourinho’s attack. The Portuguese giants do have Croatian talent Franjo Ivanovic waiting in the wings, a young forward with clear potential, but he is still learning the trade at the highest level.
A seasoned, physically dominant striker who thrives on service and embraces the dirty work in both boxes? On paper, Weghorst fits that brief. At 33, he would not be a long-term project, but he could be a bridge between eras – a plug-and-play option for a coach who demands tactical discipline and emotional intensity.
So the choice looms. Twente, with the pull of home soil and a familiar environment, or a late-career leap to a club of Benfica’s stature under one of the game’s most demanding managers. Ajax, meanwhile, recede into the background of the story, a club and a striker heading for an inevitable split.
Weghorst has never been one to drift quietly through a season. His body language, his outburst on the touchline, his refusal to speak after Twente’s visit – all of it points to a man already wrestling with the next step. The only question now is whether his final act in Amsterdam becomes a springboard back into the European elite or the prelude to a homecoming in Enschede.
