Thilo Kehrer: Ajax complete €2m loan for Germany defender

German-Burundian centre-back Thilo Kehrer has joined Ajax from Monaco on a loan deal worth €2m, switching from France’s Ligue 1 to the Eredivisie.

The 29-year-old has signed an agreement with the Amsterdam club running until 30 June 2027. The move was completed on 2 September, with Kehrer returning to the Netherlands after beginning the 2026-27 campaign with Monaco.

Kehrer joined Monaco permanently from West Ham United in July 2024 for €11m. Before that, he spent the 2023-24 season between the two clubs, moving to Monaco on loan in January 2024 for a €500,000 fee before returning to West Ham at the end of the campaign.

His career has included spells at Paris St-Germain, West Ham, Monaco and Schalke. Kehrer moved from Schalke to PSG in August 2018 for €37m, spending four seasons with the French club and winning three Ligue 1 titles.

The defender also lifted the French Cup twice with PSG, as well as the French League Cup and French Super Cup. He later won the Europa Conference League with West Ham during the 2022-23 season.

Born in Tubingen, Germany, Kehrer came through the youth systems at Reutlingen and Stuttgart before joining Schalke’s academy. He progressed into the first team and helped Schalke finish as Bundesliga runners-up in the 2017-18 season, his final campaign before moving to Paris.

At international level, Kehrer was part of the Germany Under-21 side that won the European Under-21 Championship in 2017. He also won the German Under-19 Bundesliga with Schalke’s academy in 2014-15.

Ajax have added an experienced central defender whose honours include domestic titles in France and a European trophy with West Ham. Kehrer is listed at 1.86m and is comfortable using either foot, while his preferred position is centre-back.

The move places him under contract at Ajax until 30 June 2027, when his loan from Monaco is scheduled to end.