Maarten Paes was still thinking about his time at FC Dallas when he received the transfer call, having just returned from a long flight. He had hoped to get some rest due to a jetlag, but the call from his agent changed everything. "I was on a training camp in Portugal, I had a long flight back from Dallas and I wanted to go to bed because I had a jetlag. And suddenly I get a call from my agent asking if I was interested in playing in Amsterdam. I had a jetlag, but I couldn't sleep anymore. Of course, I wanted to go to Ajax," Paes said.
The transfer happened quickly, with Paes meeting with Ajax's director and goalkeeper coach the day after receiving the call. Ajax played in the Champions League the following day. Despite his initial caution, Paes eventually agreed to the transfer and joined Ajax a week later. "My stuff is still in Dallas, that's quite surreal," he said.
Paes's first match for Ajax was against De Graafschap, which ended 7-1. He had been a fan of the club since childhood and had even worn a shirt of former Ajax player Rafael van der Vaart. "My first match in a stadium was Ajax - De Graafschap. It was 7-1. I had a shirt of Van der Vaart. I was always a fan," Paes said.