Joel Piroe reveals Ajax interest before West Ham loan
Joel Piroe could easily have been walking out at the Johan Cruyff Arena this season instead of the London Stadium tunnel. On 2 September, speaking to Ajax Showtime, the striker revealed just how close Ajax came to bringing him back to the Netherlands before West Ham stepped in.
“Jordi had already contacted us. Ajax was a serious candidate for me in that regard,” Piroe said, detailing talks with Jordi Cruyff about the club’s rebuild.
The plan was clear: a new-look Ajax, with Piroe leading the line.
He liked the sound of it. The Suriname international felt the pull of a club trying to restore its old shine. “What you also gathered: they were really putting together a new team and they wanted to sign me as a striker as well… I felt a sense of confidence,” he explained. The idea of helping “bring Ajax back to what they were a few years ago” was, he admitted, a genuine ambition.
But the deal hit a wall. Ajax balked at the €15m price tag, judging it too steep while they still needed to move on Wout Weghorst and other forwards. The interest was real. The money, at that moment, was not.
West Ham pounced.
Instead of Amsterdam, Piroe headed to east London on a season-long loan with an obligation to buy, a package reportedly worth around £12m if promotion clauses are triggered. For a striker whose reputation is built on Championship goals, it is a move that suits all parties on paper: West Ham get a proven finisher for their promotion push, and Piroe gets a stage that plays to his strengths.
His appeal is obvious to anyone who watched the second tier in 2024/25. He hit 19 league goals as Leeds United stormed to the Championship title, a ruthless presence in the box when chances came. This season, he has already opened his account for West Ham, with one goal in three league appearances. Not spectacular, but a familiar rhythm is starting.
Why Leeds let him go
So why did Leeds let that kind of scorer walk out of the door, especially without a like-for-like replacement through the middle?
The numbers from last season tell the story. Piroe managed just one goal in 21 appearances across all competitions, and failed to score in 16 Premier League games. Daniel Farke gave him only 259 league minutes. For a player once central to a promotion charge, that is a brutal comedown and a clear signal: the fit between player and system had broken.
Tactically, it adds up. Piroe is a penalty-box striker. He comes alive when a team feeds him regular chances, but he offers far less as a link man and does not bring the pace or pressing intensity Farke demands from a lone forward. With Dominic Calvert-Lewin and Felix Nmecha offering stronger physical profiles and more of the defensive work Leeds wanted from the front, Piroe became an awkward spare part rather than a first-choice option.
In that context, turning a fringe figure into a structured deal worth roughly £12m to £15m looks cold but rational.
The risk Leeds have taken
There is, however, a sting in the tail for Leeds.
They did strengthen in other areas: James Trafford arrived in goal, Harry Wilson added creativity out wide, Tarik Muharemovic bolstered the defensive options, and deadline-day signing Jean-Matteo Bahoya brought another attacking spark. On paper, the squad looks more rounded.
But Piroe left without a direct central-forward replacement. If Calvert-Lewin or Nmecha miss significant time, the decision could leave Farke badly exposed. The margin for error up front is thin. Very thin.
Leeds finished 14th in the Premier League last season, and that context shapes everything. Survival, not sentiment, dictated Farke’s choices. He prioritised forwards who press, occupy defenders physically and fit his out-of-possession demands over a striker whose best work comes when the team is built around his finishing.
That makes the call easier to defend in a meeting room. On a cold February night with injuries biting and goals drying up, it may look very different.
For Piroe, though, the move back into the Championship with West Ham feels like a return to his natural habitat. A league that rewards penalty-box poachers more than tireless pressers. A team that wants his goals, not his sprints.
Ajax hesitated. Leeds moved on. West Ham bet that, given the right service, Joel Piroe’s old numbers will come back – and with them, a route back to the Premier League.
