Rangers chose Philippe Clement ahead of Pascal Jansen last year and the former AZ Alkmaar boss could soon find himself returning to the Eredivisie stage with Ajax.
That is according to Valentijn Driessen, a Dutch football journalist who knows a thing or two about the goings on behind the scenes at the Johan Cruyff Arena.
Pascal Jansen, who was reportedly considered by Rangers following the sacking of Mick Beale in late-2023, remains out of work after talks with Olympiakos did not result in a move to the Greek giants.
But Jansen, Driessen believes, will not be out of work for much longer. Not with Ajax on the lookout for a new head coach, and with the Amsterdam kingmakers full of praise for a man who guided AZ to successive top-four finishes as well as the Europa Conference League semi-finals.
Rangers looked at former AZ Alkmaar manager
“I think Pascal Jansen has a good chance,” Driessen says on the Vandaag Inside show. “Because now it’s all ‘AZ within Ajax’.”
Alex Kroes, Marijn Beuker and the legendary Louis van Gaal – Driessen points out – are the men who will play a key role in choosing Ajax’s new boss. All three, meanwhile, are former employees of AZ Alkmaar.
“It’s all AZ, and they have all worked with Pascal Jansen,” the reporter adds. “They are all so crazy about what happens at AZ. So there is a good chance that he will be the one.”
Jansen, like Beale, lost his job after a difficult start to the current campaign. But, unlike Beale, the London-born 51-year-old emerged with his reputation relatively unscathed. There remains much admiration for the way he inherited the reigns at AZ following the sudden departure of Arne Slot – the reigning Eredivisie-winning head coach with Feyenoord – and maintained his predecessor’s success.
Philippe Clement has Rangers aiming high
“That Rangers talk caught me by surprise,” Jansen told Sky Sports in October, a few months before he was let go by the Alkmaar outfit. “It flatters me, of course, because Rangers are a massive club and I have dreams and ambitions.”
Currently top of the Scottish Premiership and with a Europa League last-16 clash with Benfica to look forward to on Thursday, there will be few at Ibrox rueing the decision to hand the reigns to Philippe Clement instead as things stand.
