Whatever it is, the figures of the last great Ajax who stayed at the gates of playing the final of the Champions League 2018-19 and decided to pursue their individual careers outside of Amsterdam have not been able to fully succeed in their new clubs. This summer the ‘ajacied’ team has left precisely its constructor, Erik ten Hagnew technician Manchester United. Ten Hag has seen the talents he promoted in Amsterdam fall short of his lofty ambitions. The coach even aspires to recover some of them in Manchester, such as Frenkie de Jong, after three seasons at the Camp Nou. Despite being a starter, Barça is negotiating with United the sale of a midfielder who, arriving in 2019, came to be the masterpiece of the Barça team for the next decade. Matthijs de Ligt, Judge Ziyech, Donny van de Beek y Kasper Dolberg they also left Ajax that summer of 2019 and in recent months they packed their bags david neres, Andres Onana, Ryan Gravenberch, Noussair Mazraoui y Nicholas Tagliafico. We will have to see how it goes for them. Of the players who, for example, beat Real Madrid 4-1 at the Bernabéu, many of them have already left or will leave: Onana, Mazraoui, De Ligt, tagliafico, Van de Beek, De Jong, Neres y Ziyech They were headlines that night.
1
Barça has left its own future in the hands of Frenkie de Jong, while Manchester United, encouraged by Ten Hag, press for his signing. Three years after the Barça club paid De Jong 75 million euros and 11 in variables, the prevailing feeling is one of ambiguity: Frenkie has been a regular starter, playing 139 games in all competitions and contributing directly to 30 goals (13 own, 17 assists), although the feeling has always floated that the midfielder who came to mark the culé era is yet to explode. Many believe that he can still do it. Therein lies the doubt. The problem is that in the current Barça, the economic urgency can end up weighing more than the expectations that De Jong still arouses at just 25 years old. In fact, his offensive numbers are better than in Amsterdam: in the last season he scored three goals and gave four assists.
2
Matthijs de Ligt was 19 years old and served as captain in that brilliant Ajax 2018-19 that eliminated Real Madrid in Europe. Juve signed him for a fixed 75 million euros and another 10 in variables. His time in Turin has not been as satisfactory as it promised, neither for the club nor for the footballer, who despite the faith of his last coach, Max Allegri, does not feel that type of football is his, more of the ‘school Chiellini’. After 117 games, 8 goals and 3 assists, De Ligt is Bayern’s target. Hasan Salihamidzic, his sports director, is already negotiating with Juve. In Munich they want the central defender with stripes and offensive influence from Amsterdam: 7 goals and 4 assists in his last ‘ajacied’ year.
3
In 2020, Chelsea paid 40 million euros to Ajax for the skillful Ajax midfielder, the creativity of that Champions League semi-finalist team alongside veteran Dusan Tadic. Although his time at Stamford Bridge gave him the 2021 Champions League, his role was diminishing for Thomas Tuchel. This week, the 29-year-old Moroccan international has decided to break with his agents and represent himself. He is negotiating his signing for Milan, despite the fact that he has a contract with Chelsea until 2025, with whom he has played a total of 83 games, scoring 14 goals and giving 10. His ‘blues’ figures were always far from 9 goals and 19 attendance from his last course in Amsterdam.
4
Manchester United paid 39 million euros for the arriving midfielder Donny van de Beek in 2020, when it even sounded for Real Madrid. His star, however, soon faded at Old Trafford, especially as a result of the emergence of Bruno Fernandes. Van de Beek finished the previous season on loan at Everton, but Erik Ten Hag, even when he coached Ajax, already said that it was “a mortal sin” not to have a complete midfielder like the 25-year-old Dutch international in Manchester. He no doubt remembered the 10 goals and 11 assists from their joint last season at Ajax.
5
The Brazilian winger, now 25 years old, was left unpublished at Shakhtar Donetsk because of the war in Ukraine. Transferred last January for 12 million euros, Benfica took advantage of the market opportunity to sign the elusive winger for 15 million. He has already given him a release clause of 100. In the 2021-22 half-season that he played for Ajax, he participated in 22 games, scoring 4 goals and giving 2 assists.
6
Bought for €20m by Nice in the summer of 2019, the 24-year-old Danish striker still has two seasons left on his contract, but the French club would be happy if they could recoup some of their record investment. Premier League clubs such as Leicester and Brentford sounded. Substitute for that brilliant Ajax, his football always seemed more beautiful than good. In Nice, the Danish striker has 13 goals and 7 assists in 85 games.
7
André Onana is officially Inter Milan goalkeeper since July 1. The Cameroonian goalkeeper trained at La Masia and holder of that dazzling Ajax of 2019 arrives in Serie A free of contract and at the age of 26, leaving behind 214 games and only 192 goals conceded in Amsterdam. His prestige and image of a goalkeeper adapted to modern football, thanks to his good footwork, has kept him on the poster of the greats, even despite his suspension for months for positive. He will share the goal with an interista institution, Samir Handanovic.
8
During the first half of the 2021-11 season, the arrival at Barça of the Moroccan winger Noussair Mazraoui, another of the eight starters of the 1-4 in Madrid with that Ajax to remember, was almost taken for granted. Now 24 years old, Mazraoui has taken advantage of his contract ending in Amsterdam to finally accept the offer from Bayern, who signed him until 2026 after seeing that his performance last season continued to be high: he scored five goals and gave four assists in 34 matches with Ajax. He arrives in Munich accompanied by a talent after that 2018-19 batch, the 20-year-old Dutch midfielder Ryan Gravenverch, author of 3 goals and 6 assists in 41 games in his last season in Amsterdam.
9
Argentine winger Nicolás Tagliafico got tired of waiting for some great, especially from the League and especially Barça, to go decisively for him. The 29-year-old left-hander, who acknowledged having had a last Barça proposal in the last winter market, is very close to Lyon for about 4 million euros. He still has an ‘ajacied’ contract until 2023. In his last season he played 29 games, scoring 3 goals and giving another 3.
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