AFC Ajax Amsterdam defender Aaron Bouwman plays during the match between Ajax and Telstar at the Johan Cruijff ArenA for the Dutch Vriendenloterij Eredivisie season 2025-2026 in Amsterdam, Netherlands, on August 10, 2025.
Ajax defender Aaron Bouwman.(Image: Marcel van Dorst/EYE4images/NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Newcastle United are no strangers to checking out talent from Ajax after signing midfield sensation Sean Steur from the Amsterdam giants.
It is understood that Newcastle were keeping tabs on centre-back Aaron Bouwman before he was dealt a horror injury last month. The player, who stands at 6ft 6in tall, has been a name put to the Magpies, given he shares the same agency as Matthias Jaissle, and he fits the bill in terms of younger stars joining the club's charge forward into the next few years.
With Fabian Schar reaching the golden years of his career at 34, Toon scouts are actively looking for a right-sided centre-back. Bouwman would fit the bill and had impressed in early Europa League qualifying ties and early Dutch top-flight games.
But his season was struck by disaster last month when he suffered a horror moment in the 3-1 loss to PSV Eindhoven at the Johan Cruyff Arena. A nasty challenge inflicted by Ruben van Bommel left the defender hospitalised and ruled out of the month of September.
Back then, a statement from Ajax read: “Aaron Bouwman will not be in action again during the month of September. Examinations showed that Bouwman suffered several injuries, including bruising to his sternum and a bruised lung."
The 19-year-old has a valuation of around £6.7m and is due back in October having recovered from his lung problems. And Newcastle scouts will be back on alert to check his progress with Chelsea also believed to be keen on the teenager.
Bouwman is on a list of young stars Newcastle are monitoring ahead of the next two windows as sporting director Ross Wilson - who personally checked out Steur last season - looks to implement the next stage of his recruitment process. As reported by Chronicle Live, Wilson led a scouting summit on Tyneside before the international break.
In it potential targets for January and 2027 summer window were discussed as Newcastle look to build on a progressive window last time around. With ex-head of recruitment Steve Nickson now with Wrexham and his assistant Andy Howe no longer with Newcastle, Wilson will be able put his own stamp on transfers in the windows ahead.
Schar signed a one-year contract last summer but will be 35 in December and this could be his final hurrah for the black and whites. It remains to be seen whether Dan Burn triggers a two-year option on his current deal, which is set to expire at the end of this season.
Burn has been back in light training in the build-up to the first game back after the international window as Newcastle prepare to take on Coventry City next Monday.
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