Praise for 'great guy' Wout Weghorst of the Dutch national team: 'What that unleashed…'

Rumours of a return to his former club had been swirling in recent weeks, culminating in his transfer being finalised on Saturday morning. "I think it's a very good choice, both for Ajax and for Weghorst," Boeve begins. "And this is an excellent transfer for FC Twente too, because he's still a very good striker. Especially for a club like Twente."

Boeve himself played 296 matches for Ajax. The now 69-year-old former forward knows better than anyone what is normally expected of an Ajax striker, but according to him, Weghorst didn't quite fit that profile. "It was already strange that he came to Amsterdam, because he's not a typical Ajax footballer. He's a good attacking leader, but not a graceful, ball-playing striker."

In the past two years, Weghorst, who made 65 appearances and scored twenty goals, even became a starter. "That's not ideal, because you want to be able to use Weghorst as a battering ram. If you need to force something, you bring him on. When he comes in, things happen," Boeve continues, hoping for minutes for Weghorst at the World Cup. "Ideally, he wouldn't play, because that means you don't need a battering ram, but I wholeheartedly wish him to play. A great guy," he laughs.

However, discussions around Weghorst often revolve around his behaviour. During his time at Ajax, for example, he hit a cameraman while thanking the crowd, and he regularly received criticism from journalists and analysts. "That's Wout. You have to take him as he is. I actually find it very positive that he's always himself. People always have opinions about everything, but he also deserves respect. He has made the absolute most of his career."

Boeve refers, among other things, to Weghorst's goals for the Dutch national team against Argentina in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup. "That was incredibly beautiful. If you recall that goal after that free-kick… And if you see what that unleashed at the time, wasn't that great? If you put him in, as a coach, you know he'll always give his maximum. In that regard, I hope he gets to play a few more games."

Just like Boeve, former top footballer Hedwiges Maduro also steps up to defend Weghorst. "I think Wout has been scrutinised too much lately," says the former Ajax player on the Sportnieuws.nl World Cup football podcast. He brings up an incident involving Weghorst and Noa Lang in training. "Lang nutmegs him and then goes down. That happens a hundred times in training. It seems like people want to create something that isn't there at all."