Vurnon Anita has spoken of his original move to Newcastle United.

Anita admits many were surprised when he left Ajax at the time.

He told Voetbalzone: “There have been people who wondered whether I went abroad too soon. But the price that Newcastle wanted to pay was such that Ajax said: 'We would rather accept it'.

"It is a story that has never come out, but I actually did not want to leave Ajax then. If I had been allowed to choose myself, I would have stayed another year. It was okay to make that step, it was not wrong. But maybe I would have gone further as a player if I had stayed with Ajax for another year.

"At that time there was also a larger club with interest, only they were not yet as concrete as Newcastle. Maybe they would have become concrete if another year had stayed with Ajax. You never know that. It turned out this way and I am happy with that."