Ajax have confirmed that they have sacked head coach John Heitinga in an official club statement made today.

The 39-year-old took over as head coach until the end of the season in January following the sacking of Alfred Schreuder but has failed to convince club officials that he is the right man to take the club forward in to the next campaign, with Ajax finishing a disappointing third in the Eredivisie, a whopping 13 points behind eventual winners and bitter rivals Feyenoord.

Ajax fire former player John Heitinga

Heitinga played 215 times for Ajax between 2001 and 2008, scoring an impressive 24 goals from central defense during that time, before moving on to pastures new at Atletico Madrid for a fee of approximately $11m.

The former Everton man eventually finished his playing career back at the Amsterdam-based club in 2016 before taking over the club’s famous youth team, Jong Ajax. After carrying out an impressive job there, Heitinga was propelled into the vacant hot seat at the Johan Cruyff Arena earlier this year.

In a brief statement, new Ajax Director of Football Sven Mislintat said, “John got on board to help the club in a different time, and he did that full of dedication. We are very grateful for that”.