CONFIRMED: Indonesia national team pillar joins club with 4 Champions League titles

Ajax Amsterdam has caused a major surprise in the transfer market by deciding to sign Maarten Paes from FC Dallas (MLS).

According to Fabrizio Romano, Ajax has officially reached an agreement to bring Maarten Paes from FC Dallas. The 27-year-old goalkeeper is expected to soon sign a 3.5-year contract at Johan Cruyff ArenA, committing to Ajax until mid-2029.

Notably, Ajax is reported to have agreed to pay a transfer fee exceeding 1 million euros for this deal. This figure is considered reasonable given Paes’s Transfermarkt valuation of around 1.5 million euros. Administrative procedures and contract signing are said to be nearly complete.

The arrival of Paes continues the recent flurry of transfer activity by the club that has won the Champions League four times. Although goalkeeper was not initially a top priority, Ajax’s management acted quickly when the opportunity arose, showing their ambition to stabilize the squad for the future.

The decision to bring Paes to Amsterdam stems from Ajax’s urgent need to secure a long-term goalkeeper. Currently, Ajax’s goal is guarded by Vitezslav Jaros, who is only on loan and will return to Liverpool after this season. Additionally, Ajax faces uncertainty regarding veteran goalkeeper Remko Pasveer.

Maarten Paes is no stranger to Dutch football. He started his professional career at NEC Nijmegen in 2016 before moving to FC Utrecht in 2018. After several seasons in the Eredivisie, Paes made a bold decision to move to the United States to join FC Dallas in January 2022, initially on loan before being signed permanently.

Paes’s status as a naturalized player for the Indonesian national team is also seen as a plus. The goalkeeper, born in 1997, debuted for Indonesia in September 2024 and quickly became the first-choice keeper. To date, he has earned 10 caps for the Indonesian national team.

Nevertheless, returning to the Eredivisie is viewed as a major opportunity for Paes to prove himself. He needs to show that his time playing in the U.S. and becoming a key player for Indonesia has helped him mature enough to handle the responsibility of guarding the goal for a prestigious club like Ajax.