Ahmetcan Kaplan Joins NEC as Ajax Cashes Out

Ajax are preparing to cut ties with Ahmetcan Kaplan, with NEC closing in on a permanent deal for the Turkish defender worth around €2.5 million, according to Algemeen Dagblad club watcher Johan Inan.

The move keeps Kaplan in familiar surroundings. After a standout loan spell in Nijmegen last season, the 21-year-old is set to sign a four-year contract that will run until mid-2030. NEC have seen enough: 30 official matches, two goals, and a calm authority at the back have convinced them to buy.

For Ajax, it draws a line under an expensive chapter. The Amsterdam club brought Kaplan in from Trabzonspor in the summer of 2022 for €9.5 million, betting big on his potential and left-footed profile. That gamble never truly paid off. His Ajax career will end at 25 official appearances, a stop-start stint overshadowed by competition and circumstance.

In Nijmegen, the picture looks very different. Kaplan arrives not as a prospect, but as a cornerstone. NEC badly needed defensive reinforcements with Philippe Sandler sidelined for a long spell, and the Turk slots straight into that gap. He will also link up again with compatriot Emre Mor, adding a familiar face in a dressing room that already suited him.

The timing matters. NEC are still chasing a place in the Champions League group stage, with FK Bodø/Glimt standing between them and a historic breakthrough over two legs. Securing Kaplan now is more than a routine Eredivisie transfer; it is a statement that NEC intend to go into that tie with a back line they trust.

Ajax move on, counting the financial hit. NEC move forward, convinced they have just signed a defender to anchor the club’s most ambitious season in years.