Wijndal leaves Ajax: When football doesn't wait for slow footsteps

On Wednesday afternoon at the De Toekomst training ground, Owen Wijndal slung his backpack over his shoulder, shook hands with each teammate, and walked away. There were no thousands of fans to see him off, no farewell speeches. Just a small wave and the dressing room door closing behind him. That is how a dream ends at Ajax – not with applause, but with the silence of an administrative decision. Wijndal's contract with Ajax ran until mid-2027. He was only 26 – the age when a left-back typically enters the most mature phase of his career. But top-level football does not operate on the logic of age. It operates on the pecking order, on how the coach looks at the training pitch every morning and decides who deserves to play. And at Ajax, Wijndal was no longer in that list. The story began this summer, when Ajax brought in two new left-backs simultaneously: Caio Henrique – a Brazilian international with Ligue 1 experience, and Jofre Torrents – a 19-year-old Spaniard promoted from the youth team. In a single transfer window, the position Wijndal was expected to own for years became suffocatingly crowded. The pre-season friendly against Telstar was the clearest evidence. Ajax won 4-0, Torrents came off the bench, and Wijndal sat for the full 90 minutes. A 19-year-old being given the opportunity ahead of a 26-year-old international – that was not just a tactical decision, but a statement about the club's developmental direction. I have followed Dutch football for over three decades, and I have learned one thing: Ajax has never been a place for players who need time to rediscover themselves. They are a talent-producing machine, operating in a continuous cycle – buy young, develop, sell high. Wijndal arrived from AZ Alkmaar in 2026 for a fee around €10 million, carrying the reputation of the most promising attacking left-back in the Eredivisie. But after two seasons of failing to meet expectations, he became a failed investment that Ajax had to cut loose. What is notable is not that Wijndal left – failed deals happen at every club. What is notable is how Ajax handled it: terminating the contract with immediate effect, recovering no transfer fee whatsoever. In a market where even backup players can fetch a few million euros, Ajax's willingness to let Wijndal walk for free shows they valued his market worth at nearly zero. This was a painful but pragmatic financial decision: freeing up wage bill space, clearing room for new signings, and more importantly – sending a clear message that Ajax does not keep those who no longer fit. But there is a blind spot few people see. Ajax's decision to sign two new left-backs while Wijndal was still under contract reflects a failure in squad planning. Ideally, they should have sold Wijndal first, then found his replacement. Instead, they created an overcrowded position, pushing a 26-year-old into a dead end. This was not a smart tactical decision, but a clumsy squad management error – a process failure that Ajax needs to examine seriously. For Wijndal, this is a critical career juncture. At 26, he still has time to rebuild his value. But losing two years of development at Ajax – two years where he barely played regularly – is an irreplaceable loss. His chances of returning to the Netherlands national team, where he earned 3 caps, are now nearly closed. He will need to find a club where he can play consistently and rediscover the best version of himself. There is a question I always ask myself when witnessing farewells like this: is football too cruel to those who cannot keep up with its pace? Wijndal is not a bad player. He simply did not fit Ajax – a club with standards so demanding that no one is allowed to slow down. And in modern football, that lack of fit means being cast aside, no matter how talented you are. When Wijndal walked out of De Toekomst that Wednesday afternoon, he carried a lesson that football always teaches those who dare to enter this game: nothing lasts forever, and opportunity comes only once. But I also believe that somewhere, a club is waiting for a 26-year-old left-back with a burning desire to prove himself. And when he finds that place, his story will not end here – it will simply begin again. Football never truly says goodbye. It only pauses, waiting to see if you have the courage to move forward.