Ryan Babel pens new deal until summer 2010
02 February: Newcastle United were said to be after his
signature, but Ryan Babel will stay in Amsterdam.
The Ajax forward (20), originally a centre forward
but mostly used as a left winger in Ajax's first team, has
agreed a contract extension until 30 June 2010. Babel's
previous deal would have expired in the summer of 2008.
Ryan Babel (born Amsterdam, 19 December 1986) is a
product of the Ajax youth system and was generally
regarded as one of the gems of De Toekomst when he made his
first team début for Ajax on
01 February 2004, in the Eredivisie home fixture against
ADO Den Haag. Babel's rather unexpected
début at the tender age of 17 was a bit
of an emergency: all Ajax-1 strikers were unavailable at the
time. The Den Haag match would remain Babel's only first team
appearance until
20 November 2004, when he finally had his second
Ajax-1 appearance in the Eredivisie away game at De
Graafschap.
Babel scored immediately and continued the score as a
substitute in the weeks thereafter, becoming an
Ajax-1 regular. For a few weeks the number of minutes
he required to score a goal was the lowest in
the history of the Eredivisie. Babel made his début
for the Dutch national team on
27 March 2005 in Holland's World Cup qualifier
against Romania in Bucharest. He graced
his Oranje début with a goal in the dying
minutes.
The 2005-2006 season was difficult for Ryan Babel.
He was struggling, head-coach Danny Blind wanted to turn him
into a left winger and Babel eventually returned to the bench.
Danny Blind's successor, Henk ten Cate, praised Babel from the
very start and made him a starter again. So far, Ryan Babel
scored 12 goals in 61 Eredivisie appearances. He also played 30
matches (8 goals) in domestic and European cup competition. In
total: 91 games, 20 goals. Babel made his Oranje
début on
27 March 2005, in Holland's World Cup qualifier in and
against Romania (0-2). Babel graced his début with a
goal and currently has 11 caps (3 goals) for The
Netherlands.
It is the second time for Ryan Babel to sign an extended and
improved contract with Ajax. The first time was in
July 2005. (MP)
Source: Ajax.nl
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