Ajax technical director Alex Kroes has admitted that he was not expecting to do a double deadline day deal with Sunderland for Brian Brobbey and Bertrand Traoré.
[ESPN have comments](https://www.espn.nl/voetbal/artikel/_/id/15628248/kroes-tevreden-over-transferzomer-ajax-nu-moeten-we-iedereen-de-tijd-gunnen) from the Ajax chief today, from the club’s official channels, in which he discusses the club’s transfer business this summer.
Some of the last bits he did involve Sunderland, as the Black Cats did their last bit of spending in a big summer of strengthening for life back in the Premier League.
They secured Brobbey in a €20m deal and then signed his teammate Traoré in a €2.9m deal as well to complete a double purchase from the Dutch club in the final hours of the window.
Brobbey in particular had been linked with a move away from Ajax for much of the summer transfer window after a disappointing campaign last season and plenty of questions about his role in the squad moving forwards.
It seems that Ajax had reached deadline day not expecting anything to happen, though, before Kroes woke up on Monday to a couple of emails from Sunderland.
“The objective has been achieved,” he said.
“I woke up Monday morning with an offer from Sunderland in my inbox. Until then, Sunderland had barely been a topic of conversation.
“We had things better organized at all levels of the club this transfer window. Every player we signed was thoroughly scouted. There’s a plan behind that for the future that was discussed with the staff.”