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The multiple-time Dutch champion Amsterdam club has agreed to extend contracts with two of the club's most promising players: striker Ryan Babel and goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer.
Dutch national team striker R. Babel, whose contract with Ajax was set to expire in 16 months, has signed a new two-year contract with the Dutch team and will remain at Ajax until June 30, 2010.
It was thought that in January, with the opening of the winter player transfer market, R. Babel would leave Ajax and move abroad. The player's services were highly sought after by English Premier League clubs Arsenal and Newcastle.
R. Babel joined the Ajax team in the summer of 2004, when he was just 17 years old. In total, the player has scored 12 goals in 61 matches in the Dutch Eredivisie. This season, the 20-year-old striker managed to establish himself in the team led by Henk Ten Cate and has already scored three goals in the national championship, as well as one in the UEFA Cup.
Since R. Babel made his debut in the Dutch national team in March 2006 in the World Cup qualifying match against Romania and scored a goal, the young player, under the guidance of Marco van Basten, has managed to play 11 times and score 3 goals.
Furthermore, Ajax has decided to extend the contract with Dutch (U-21) youth national team goalkeeper Kenneth Vermeer, who, like his colleague R. Babel, has extended his contract for another two years and will remain at Ajax until June 30, 2010.
The 21-year-old goalkeeper was a member of the Dutch youth national team, which triumphed in the European Championship last summer with a 3-0 victory over the Ukrainian youth. Vermeer has played only one match within Ajax's ranks. Vermeer appeared in the second half of the UEFA Cup match against the "IK Start" team, which ended in a 4-0 victory for the Dutch club.
