On Thursday it was announced that Frank de Boer is to leave the club after five-and-a-half years at the helm, during which he won four league titles.
De Boer has long been a champion of Serero’s talents, calling him at one stage the 'heartbeat' of Ajax, and following an injury-blighted season used the Bafana Bafana midfielder in the closing stages of the 2015/16 campaign.
The 45-year-old De Boer’s contract only runs out next year but after Ajax failed to win the Dutch championship this season, the club and coach agreed to part ways once a tour to China this month is completed.
Ajax and defending champions PSV Eindhoven went into last Sunday’s final round of matches level on points but with a superior goal difference and a match against second-from-bottom De Graafschap, Ajax were expected to deliver a fifth title under De Boer’s tenure.
Instead they drew 1-1 and allowed PSV to finish two points clear at the top of the table.
“He told the management he wanted to stop in a meeting and agreement has been reached over the cessation of his contract,” said a club statement.
De Boer took over from Martin Jol as Ajax coach in December 2010, winning his first match at the San Siro against AC Milan in the Champions League, and going on to a record four successive titles from 2011 to 2014.
A fifth title this year would have made him the second most successful manager in Ajax history but after Sunday’s draw against De Graafschap speculation about an end to his time was rife.
“I had a fantastic time here, first as a player and for the last 10 years as a coach,” said De Boer, who was a junior coach at the Ajax after retiring from playing.
“Ajax fast tracked me to their first team and for that I am thankful. After we won four successive titles, the 2014-15 season was a disappointment. We wanted to put that right this season and did everything we could. But unfortunately it did not turn out as we had hoped and I have begun to realise it is time for something else. That will be better for me and, in my opinion, for Ajax too,” De Boer added in the same statement.
De Boer, who won 112 caps for the Netherlands, is interested in possible jobs at Everton or Valencia, his agent Guido Albers told Dutch television at the weekend.