Netherlands international Steven Bergwijn has admitted that moving to the Saudi Arabia league will improve him financial wise.
On 2 September 2024, Bergwijn signed a three-year contract with Saudi outfit Al-Ittihad worth £17.7m, after spending two seasons at Ajax.
Speaking about the move, Bergwijn told De Telegraaf: “Of course I’ll improve gigantic financial wise, I won’t lie. But sportive wise it’s also interesting.”
The former Tottenham Hotspur forward also explained that joining some popular footballers was another reason why he made the move.
He added:“I will play with Benzema, Kanté, Fabinho, Diaby, Pereira… I am excited to become their teammate!”
Bergwijn’s move to Saudi was slammed by Netherlands head coach Ronald Koeman.
The Dutch legend said he will not select Bergwijn after the 26-year-old forward’s joined Al-Ittihad on Monday.
The former Everton and Southampton boss believes the move shows Bergwijn’s main ambition is financial, not sporting, and added “the book is basically closed to him.
However, the forward says he has not spoken to Koeman about his move to Saudi Arabia.
“I don’t even want to play under Koeman anymore. I won’t play for someone who portrays me like he has done in the media. He could have called me, heard my side of the story. How can he say such things without talking to me?
“If he had been a committed national coach, he would have called me first. Now I had to hear about it on TV. I’ve had many beautiful moments with him, so this is far too easy and I’m disappointed with him.”
When asked about the comments on Friday, Koeman said it is “logical” that Bergwijn would react but they “will not discuss it further”.
“It does not affect me at all. I only said that this step does not show sporting ambition. I did not say much more.”
Koeman gave Bergwijn his international debut in 2018, during his first spell as Netherlands coach, and the PSV Eindhoven academy product now has eight goals from 35 international caps.
