Thaindian News

The Hague, Feb 1 (IANS) The transfer of Mounir El Hamdaoui from Ajax to Fiorentina appeared to be a done deal, but the move fell apart at the last moment with both sides blaming each other for the failure.

Ajax and Fiorentina agreed on a transfer fee of two million euros, which could rise to over three million euros including bonuses. The 27-year-old striker also reached a personal agreement.

However, Tuesday evening Fiorentina stated on its website that the transfer was cancelled. According to the Italian club, Ajax came up with late demands for bank guarantees, while there was no time to obtain these.

“I’m still stunned,” El Hamdaoui’s agent Sigi Lens was quoted as saying by Xinhua. “We sent Ajax the contract at three o’clock in the afternoon. They had until seven o’clock to react, because that’s the Italian transfer deadline.”

“Only at half past seven there was a reaction from Amsterdam on first deposits and bank guarantees. They messed up a transfer and a contract. What are they doing at Ajax? The situation there is totally unworkable.”

Ajax had a different opinion. According to technical director Danny Blind, the bank guarantee was not the real problem.

“The problem was the dissolution of the contract between Ajax and Mounir,” said Blind. According to Blind, the player and his agent came up with “additional financial demands” of allegedly half a million euros for both Lens and El Hamdaoui because of the damage to the player’s career.

El Hamdaoui moved from AZ Alkmaar to Ajax in August 2010. Under coach Martin Jol he was a regular starter, but after the arrival of coach Frank de Boer in December 2010 he ended up on the sidelines. This season he had only trained with the Ajax reserves. His contract in Amsterdam expires in 2014.