Last updated: Feb 4, 2026, 8:59 PM
Kodai Sano is perhaps one of the most talked about footballers in recent days. The midfielder was frequently linked with a transfer to Ajax, but NEC ultimately refused to sell its star player.
Ajax was prepared to go far for the Japanese, but the people of Nijmegen wanted to keep Sano at all costs in the race for European football. Even an offer of 20 million euros from Nottingham Forest did not cause NEC to hesitate.
Sano had to make a quick switch, because on Wednesday evening he was back in the starting line-up in the cup match with FC Volendam. In minute number 23, also Sano’s shirt number, the Nijmegen supporters took the opportunity to send a special message to all interested clubs.
A banner was displayed saying ‘Kodai is red, green, black’. The Japanese were also loudly serenaded. “Sano is ours olé olé,” was the sound en masse from the stands in De Goffert.
Technical director Carlos Aalbers knew all too well how important Sano is for the club, and therefore the supporters. “The value if NEC, if Nijmegen, if the supporters here get European football… That is value for history,” he says at ESPN.
“It is of course no guarantee that we will make it, but with him the chance is greater. He is of course one of our better players. The moment we remove Sano from the group… That also has an effect on what you want to radiate as a club.”
ESPN
