FC Porto move falls through, player admits: “It was tough, but…” | OneFootball

Kenneth Taylor was one of FC Porto's main targets in the last market. The 23-year-old Dutch midfielder was on the list of André Villas-Boas and Francesco Farioli, but the high financial demands presented by Ajax halted the possibility and the deal fell through. A few months later, Taylor admits to having gone through a difficult phase due to this outcome, although he assures he is happy in Amsterdam.

“I don't want to leave Ajax all of a sudden. FC Porto is a great club. I don't consider it a punishment to be here. I'm certainly not disappointed with Ajax. It was hard for a while, when the transfer window closed. Then, I managed to change my mind quickly“, began Kenneth Taylor, in an interview with ESPN, published on Friday.

With the transfer to Portugal, at least for now, out of the question, the player trained at Ajax now even admits the possibility of renewing the contract that ends in two years.

“I still don't know [if he will renew]. They [Ajax] have already signaled this intention, but we are not working on it yet”, says the Dutch international.

One of FC Porto's arguments to try the deal was precisely Farioli. The Italian coach wanted to retain the player he guided in the Netherlands and Taylor regrets that the good season under Farioli's command was not crowned with the title.

“Without him, we wouldn't be where we are now. We had a goal and we achieved it. Of course we wanted to be champions and when we have nine points ahead… It's still painful. But it worked throughout the season. As Ajax, we should and always want to project that. That's what I believe in. We did things in a right way last season“, said the midfielder from Alkmaar, recalling the outcome that cost Ajax the championship on the last day, after a new slip in Groningen.

The values in negotiation

Recall the amounts discussed between FC Porto and Ajax for Kenneth Taylor. The board led by André Villas-Boas reportedly made a formal offer of 15 million euros, a proposal that the Dutch club's officials considered “ridiculous”.

In July, Telegraaf reported that Ajax was asking for about 35 million euros to release one of the most influential players in the squad.

The talks cooled down and only at the end of the summer market did Ajax admit to reducing the price by 10 million, leaving the proposal at 25 million. By that time, FC Porto had already strengthened the midfield with the arrivals of Victor Froholdt (Copenhagen), Pablo Rosário (Nice) and Gabri Veiga (Al Ahli).

Kenneth Taylor ended up staying at Ajax and is now in his sixth season with the main team.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.