Oscar Gloukh's refusal to leave Ajax this summer has become an unlikely obstacle to one of the club's other transfer plans, according to Dutch media reports picked up by ONE.
Ajax have spent much of August chasing Azzedine Ounahi, the Morocco international midfielder who spent last season on loan at Girona under Míchel, the Spanish coach who has since taken charge in Amsterdam. Míchel is said to rate Ounahi highly and wanted to reunite with him at Ajax, with the Moroccan reportedly open to the move.
But the sticking point, per the reports, is that Ounahi's best position overlaps directly with the one Gloukh occupies. With the Israeli having turned down interest from Spanish club Deportivo La Coruña earlier in the window and made clear he intends to stay and fight for his place, Ajax no longer feel the same urgency to force through a deal for Ounahi.
Girona, for their part, are said to be holding out for a fee close to Ounahi's release clause, reportedly around €25 million, and are under no pressure to sell with the player under contract until 2030. Ajax have reportedly been reluctant to meet that price, and rival suitors with deeper pockets are said to be circling, leaving the transfer's outcome in doubt with the window closing.
Gloukh's own situation at Ajax has been far from straightforward. Since Míchel's arrival, the 22-year-old has increasingly been used on the left rather than through the middle, and the club's separate capture of free-agent German international Julian Brandt on a deal until 2029 has added fresh competition for the No. 10 role Gloukh made his own last season.
For now, though, the reports suggest Gloukh's decision to stay put has, indirectly, made life harder for Ajax's other business - a reminder of how one player's transfer call can ripple through a club's wider squad planning.
