Evergreen Robben set to face Ajax

Niko Kovac said Arjen Robben is “highly motivated” for Bayern Munich’s clash with Ajax in the Champions League and backed the 34-year-old to continue his outstanding form this season.

Robben, who won the Eredivisie’s Young Player of the Year award and the league title with Ajax’s rivals PSV Eindhoven between 2002 and 2004, has scored three goals in five league games this season.

Bayern coach Kovac has plenty of options on the wing, with Franck Ribery, Serge Gnabry and James Rodriguez all vying for a place in his starting line-up, but he indicated that Robben would get the nod against Ajax on Tuesday.

“He knows Dutch football of course,” Kovac told reporters. “He will probably play tomorrow.

“Arjen is highly motivated. He had 96 games for his country. He’s from Eindhoven and of course that’s a good motivator.

“He wants to show that he is still a good player and he is a good player. I want him to march forward.”

“The @ChampionsLeague is a very special competition. It’s the highest level in football. You always want to go as far as possible!” #FCBAJA #UCL #packmas pic.twitter.com/czuRC7gdtV

— FC Bayern English (@FCBayernEN) October 1, 2018

With his contract due to expire at the end of the season, speculation over Robben’s future at Bayern beyond the current campaign has been rife and his recent good form has only increased supporters’ desire for the veteran forward to make a commitment to playing on.

The former Chelsea forward said that his retirement from international football in 2017 had helped his fitness but that his destiny next season was hard to predict.

“I feel great right now, I love it here,” said Robben. “We will see what happens when my contract expires.

“I think it is important to play a lot of games to maintain a rhythm but you do need breaks when you get older.

“One of my reasons for ending my international career was to be able to maintain my quality and continue to play at this level. We have a couple of weeks coming up when I can recharge my batteries and these breaks are really important to me.

“I’m not thinking about ending. It could be a year or two or three years. I can’t predict the future. We’ll have to wait and see.

“I can’t battle nature. At some point it will be over but maybe someone from the outside has to tell me that I should finally stop.”