Valentijn Driessen praised Owen Wijndal on Monday in Kick-Off from De Telegraaf after he helped Ajax win 5-2 away at FC Groningen. But the football editor does not expect the full-back to spend many more years in Amsterdam.
"He's up and down. This time he was up again. And he played really well," Driessen said a day after Ajax's win in Groningen.
Assessing Wijndal's performance, the Eredivisie observer continued: "For that one goal, he simply leaves four Groningen players trailing in his wake. That's lovely for the lad. He seems like a very nice kid to me. He's always smiling, and his team-mates all love him."
"But of course he doesn't have the quality to take Ajax to a higher level," Driessen added. "Though he thought he did initially, when he was still playing with Steven Bergwijn. The best left flank in Europe: that hasn't quite materialised."
In January 2023, Wijndal had said of his partnership with Bergwijn: "I think we understand each other well. And together on that left flank, we're certainly the best in the Netherlands. I think that if we really step it up, we'll have a good left flank for Europe too."
Presenter Pim Sedee suggested Wijndal might currently be the best left-back in the Ajax squad, partly because Caio Henrique is often injured. "And Youri Baas and Daley Blind can play there too. But he's a player who's good to have around, because you can always pick him," Driessen added.
On Thursday, Míchel Sánchez chose Jofre Torrents at left-back for Ajax against Hajduk Split. The move didn't work, and three days later Wijndal started in Groningen.