Steur has signed a five-year contract at St James' Park running until 2031, with Newcastle United paying Ajax an initial €24million plus a further €3million in bonuses. He made his move to Tyneside within days of the deal breaking, having already completed his medical.
Technical director Jordi Cruyff addressed the departure in an interview with de Volkskrant, making clear he has little patience for players and their entourages pushing for guaranteed game time.
Asked about the collapse of contract talks, Cruyff was blunt: "The grass decides whether someone plays."
According to the paper, that verdict was aimed squarely at Steur's camp rather than at Steur himself, confirming earlier reporting from Sky Sports and De Telegraaf that the midfielder had wanted a guaranteed starting spot at Ajax that the club could not promise him.
Steur made 26 first-team appearances for Ajax, scoring once, in the 1-1 draw at Feyenoord in De Klassieker in March. He will now look to fill the void left by Sandro Tonali, who joined Tottenham Hotspur in a deal worth up to £100million, and will line up alongside fellow Ajax academy product Sven Botman at Newcastle.
Steur struck a warmer tone on his own departure, telling Newcastle's official channels: "I was at home at Ajax – I joined when I was seven and I leave with only good memories, but when a club like Newcastle comes for you, it's really hard to say no."
Back in the Netherlands, though, columnist Henk Spaan used his regular Het Parool column to take aim at both Steur's Ajax record and his father, Johan. Spaan pointed to Steur's underlying numbers: 40 appearances for Jong Ajax yielding one goal and four assists, and 20 Eredivisie appearances yielding one goal and one assist.
"Does he track back? Sometimes yes, sometimes no," he wrote, questioning Steur's defensive contribution and passing range.
Spaan reserved his sharpest words for Johan Steur, writing that the father was not a popular figure around Ajax's De Toekomst training complex, with staff there said to tune out when he arrived.
"Cruyff's son is not God, but father Steur isn't even an apostle," Spaan concluded.