Yves Bissouma's Transfer to Ajax: A Risky Gamble
Yves Bissouma’s move to Ajax is all but done. The midfielder is in Amsterdam for his medical and is expected to sign a deal until mid-2027, with an option for a further year. On the pitch, Ajax look set to land a high-level Premier League midfielder. Off it, the warnings from England are growing louder by the day.
A talent England never fully saw
Bissouma has spent the last four years in England with Tottenham Hotspur, a spell that never quite matched the excitement that greeted his arrival. Nobody in the British press is questioning his ability. They know what he can do with a ball at his feet.
What lingers is everything around it.
Across several outlets, the same theme keeps coming back: misconduct, poor choices, and a player who repeatedly tested the patience of his club.
Jack Johnson of talkSPORT did not sound remotely surprised that Spurs chose not to extend his contract. He pointed to more than just the knee injury that disrupted Bissouma’s final season. The real damage, he wrote, came away from the pitch. After several late arrivals, then-manager Thomas Frank eventually dropped him from the squad, citing a “lack of discipline”.
The disciplinary issues did not stop there.
talkSPORT highlighted how that exclusion was directly linked to a social media video in which Bissouma was seen using nitrous oxide. Even after that suspension, he was reportedly filmed a second time with a nitrous oxide balloon. For a top-flight professional, it was a damning look.
Trauma, nitrous oxide and a warning to Ajax
The Mirror added a deeper, darker layer to the story. Bissouma later explained that a burglary at his home had a major impact on his mental health. He described how the incident triggered anxiety, panic, depression and paranoia. According to his own account, that spiral is what led him towards nitrous oxide.
It is a detail that complicates the picture. This is not just a tale of a careless footballer; it is also one of a player trying to cope with trauma in a damaging way.
Even with that context, the tone in England remains cautious. The consensus is clear: Ajax are taking a risk.
The Sun framed it as a direct warning to the Amsterdam club. If Ajax want to avoid a repeat of the English saga, they wrote, they will have to keep a much closer eye on Bissouma than his previous employers did. The message is blunt: the talent is obvious, the management will be crucial.
Dutch doubts grow before he’s even signed
Scepticism is not limited to the British press. In the Netherlands, doubts are already being aired on national television.
On Monday evening, Valentijn Driessen delivered a scathing assessment on Vandaag Inside. He mocked the impending transfer, calling Bissouma “some Malian who is more into nitrous oxide than he is present at training”. For a player on the verge of joining one of Europe’s most storied clubs, it was a brutal line.
Driessen underlined the absurdity he sees in Ajax’s decision-making. He pointed to Jordi Cruyff’s stance on Noa Lang, who was reportedly deemed too difficult a character. Then he contrasted that with the move for Bissouma. If you refuse Lang on those grounds, he argued, and still decide to bring in Bissouma, “then you really are bringing in trouble.”
Ajax’s gamble
So Ajax stand on the brink of a deal that carries as much intrigue as it does risk. They are close to signing a midfielder with Premier League pedigree, someone who, at his best, can dominate games and dictate tempo.
They are also about to welcome a player whose recent career has been overshadowed by questions of discipline, mental health struggles, and the use of nitrous oxide.
The contract is ready. The medical is underway in Amsterdam. The talent is not in doubt.
The real question is whether Ajax can provide the structure, support and control that Tottenham never quite managed — or whether the same story is about to play out all over again, this time in Amsterdam.
