Serbian international Gudelj moves from AZ to Ajax

AZ midfielder Nemanja Gudelj has signed a five-year contract until mid-2020 at Ajax, the Amsterdam based club announced on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Gudelj had a contract until the summer of 2017 at AZ, but interested clubs could take him over for a limited transfer fee of around 6 million euros (6.8 million U.S. dollars). The deal with Ajax, currently second in the Eredivisie behind champions PSV, starts on July 1, 2015.

Before his arrival at AZ in 2013 Nemanja Gudelj played for NAC Breda. In total he has now played 139 matches in the Dutch Eredivisie, scoring 24 goals. This season he is on a personal record of 11 goals in 31 matches, with two regular match rounds remaining in the Dutch league.

"This is the right moment to join Ajax," Gudelj said on the club's website. "It's the right step in my development."

"We looked at what kind of players we were missing in our current selection," Ajax coach Frank de Boer said. "We came to the conclusion that we occasionally miss a certain energy in the team. In some matches, you need players who not only can make a difference technically, but also physically and in terms of appearance. With the arrival of Nemanja we now have someone who has all these different qualities and also a winning mentality. He is an example, both inside and outside the field."

Serbian international Gudelj was born in Belgrade, Serbia, on November 16, 1991. He is the son of former Bosnian Serb player Nebojsa Gudelj, who coached Dutch club NAC Breda from 2012 until 2014.

Dragisa Gudelj, the 17-year-old brother of Nemanja Gudelj, also joined Ajax, for three years. He comes over from the youth academy of NAC Breda. The Serbian youth international will start in the second team of Ajax, which is active on the second Dutch professional level. Endi