Van der Gijp is taken aback by Ajax's investment in forward: 'That is a lot of money!'

René van der Gijp watched Ajax closely on Sunday as they dropped costly points against sc Heerenveen (2-2). After the draw, the analyst from Dordrecht said he cannot understand why the Amsterdam club paid so much money for Marcos Leonardo.

"Could there really have been even one scout who went to watch that Brazilian, whom they brought in from the desert?" Van der Gijp wonders aloud in the KieftJansenEgmondGijp podcast. "I don't think so," the former forward then answers his own question.

Fellow panellist Rob Jansen piles in with a cynical swipe at the Ajax scout in question. "He needs to go to Hans Anders. To pick up a pair of glasses."

"I do understand the difficulty," Van der Gijp continues in his analysis of Leonardo's arrival this summer. "You do not just bring a Brazilian to the Netherlands to play against PEC Zwolle here. There are not many who would then say: that sounds like a good plan."

"So you have to fish in a pond you are not entirely sure about. But 20 million... That is a lot of money!" says an astonished Van der Gijp, referring to the amount Ajax paid for Leonardo, who joined from Al-Hilal.

Míchel sent Leonardo on midway through the second half against both PEC Zwolle (0-2 win) and Heerenveen. The multimillion signing failed to score in either match.

At Ajax, the Brazilian forward is competing with Kasper Dolberg and Tolu Arokodare. Míchel stressed at Sunday's press conference that he expects a lot from Leonardo this season.