AFC Ajax: What is happening?

After AFC Ajax’s loss against AZ Alkmaar, third or even fourth place seems far away. At the moment of writing, it is not even certain yet that Ajax will end up playing European Football next season. So, what needs to happen to rebuild Ajax? In this article, I will dive into what needs to happen at Ajax to create a well-balanced squad this summer that can fight for titles.

First of all, I will go into the players who want to leave the club, the players who might want to leave the club and the players who I don’t think are good enough to play a role in the first team of AFC Ajax. By doing this, I can assess which players will probably remain at Ajax and what kind of squad we have to work with in the summer.

The values of the players are only an estimation and will not be 100% correct. It just helps me create an indication of the transfer fees Ajax will receive this summer transfer window.

First of all, I think these players will definitely leave the club:

• Geronimo Rulli → too good to be a back-up goalkeeper, wants to play again.
• Jay Gorter → does not want to sit on the bench.
• Kian Fitz-Jim → ready for Eredivisie football, could play a part in Ajax’s first team but I think he wants to leave after this season.
• Chuba Akpom → has been disappointing at Ajax and can count on a lot of interest from other clubs.
• Georges Mikautadze → I have doubts about his level and he will go back to Metz permanently if they don’t get relegated. Otherwise, there will definitely be a Ligue 1 or Jupiler Pro League club that signs him.
• Naci Ünüvar → has been disappointing for both Trabzonspor and FC Twente, does not quite have the level for Ajax unfortunately.
• Youri Baas → does not have the level to play for Ajax.
• Owen Wijndal → needs a new environment.
• Francisco Conceição → wants to stay at Porto.
• Jorge Sánchez → will go back to Mexico.

These players might want to leave:

• Devyne Rensch → has stagnated at Ajax, and needs a new environment to reach higher levels.
• Benjamin Tahirovic → might not have the best perspective at Ajax and can count on a lot of interest from German clubs.
• Steven Bergwijn → might want to go back to a T5 league club.
• Brian Brobbey → might make a big transfer after the European Championships.
• Branco van den Boomen → not sure if he wants to stay at Ajax or go back to France.
• Carlos Forbs → can count on a lot of interest from Premier League clubs and has been quite disappointing at Ajax.

These players don’t have the level for Ajax in my opinion:

• Jakov Medic → has been error prone in every match he played and does not quite add anything to the squad at the moment.
• Borna Sosa → could suit Ajax in the right context, but like Wijndal he has been misused. Should go back to the Bundesliga to revive his career.
• Ar’Jany Martha → does not have the level to play for Ajax.
• Kenneth Taylor → Ajax should try to get a good transfer fee for Kenneth Taylor as he might be better off somewhere else.

I have doubts about:

• Anton Gaaei → clearly has not shown the level required to play for Ajax but I am not sure if any club will be interested in him this summer. Should go back to Denmark on loan and leave permanently in the summer of 2025.
• Silvano Vos → does not want to play for Jong Ajax anymore but does not have the required level to be a starter or squad player for Ajax at the moment due to his lack of awareness in possession. Should play for an Eredivisie club next season.
• Amourricho van Axel Dongen → injury prone. Should try to get experience in the Eredivisie.
• Remko Pasveer → will he retire?
• Josip Sutalo → gets the benefit of the doubt right now looking at his performances for Croatia and Dinamo Zagreb but NEEDS to start performing better. I’m confident he will look a lot better with a good manager.

For now, I will assume that Brian Brobbey, Branco van den Boomen and Devyne Rensch decide to stay at Ajax for one more season. Tahirovic and Forbs could leave due to a lack of perspective and other options. Bergwijn could try to move back to the T5 leagues or Saudi Arabia.

So, here’s the situation I think could happen in the summer, although I must emphasize that it’s tough to sell unwanted players:

After removing all the players who are likely to leave Ajax this summer, if those players can find new clubs and Ajax can agree on a transfer fee with the interested clubs (which will be tough!!!), the squad is looking like this.

The new manager will have 17 players from the first team to work with, next to the players from Jong Ajax. Currently, there are not many big talents in Jong Ajax who could make the step to the first team this summer. Gabriel Misehouy is likely to leave and Stanis Idumbo Muzambo already left the club.

I’ve put Mika Godts as an attacking midfielder for now, as I think he is at best in a central position, but he could also play as a left winger.

ANALYSING THE CURRENT SQUAD:

I will now analyse the squad using the following indicators:

• Age groups
• Nationalities/regions
• Personality

AGE GROUPS

I will divide the squad into three groups. One of them is the U-23 players (born in 2002 or sooner), the second one is the middle-aged players (born between 1992 and 2001, I split this into two categories) and the last one is the players aged 33 or older (born in 1991 or later). This analysis is based on the 17 players I think will stay this summer, although I must emphasize that selling unwanted players is hard and Ajax could definitely make different choices than me.

The 2018/2019 squad was also quite young with an average age of 22,97 according to Transfermarkt, but that squad had players such as Joel Veltman, Nicolás Tagliafico, Daley Blind, Zakaria Labyad, Hakim Ziyech and Dusan Tadic who were all middle-aged.

Currently, Ajax mostly has U-23 players. Players like Jorrel Hato and Brian Brobbey have a high market value. Most of the other players have a decent market value. It is quite easy to see that Ajax lacks experienced leaders. Jordan Henderson, Branco van den Boomen, Remko Pasveer and Steven Berghuis are experienced players but this is not enough for a club like Ajax.

Gaston Avila is out with an injury, Josip Sutalo has plenty of experience but is not a player with leadership qualities and Diant Ramaj is now having his first full season as a starting goalkeeper for Ajax.

Devyne Rensch, Brian Brobbey and Jorrel Hato also have plenty of experience, but Hato is only 17 years old and Rensch does not seem to be a leading player yet.

In other words, the squad is imbalanced in terms of age groups and experience. There isn’t a sufficient amount of experience in the squad due to the lack of middle-aged players. Ajax should consider signing a few middle-aged players this summer, especially in defence and attack. Especially a player like Josip Sutalo needs a mentor who can help him regain his confidence and become a stronger defender.

NATIONALITIES & REGIONS

Within Ajax’s 17 players for the current season, there are 11 Dutch-speaking players (including Godts and Hlynsson). Jordan Henderson is an English speaker, Mannsverk speaks English and I assume Gaston Avila speaks English at a basic level. Both Kaplan and Sutalo did not speak English at the start of the season and I am not sure if they have made big improvements over the past months. Gaston Avila also speaks Spanish and Branco van den Boomen speaks French. Diant Ramaj speaks English and German.

I think Mislintat’s mistake last season is that he signed multiple players who did not speak Dutch, English or Spanish at all with Mikautadze and Sutalo. They will naturally struggle more to adapt to Ajax, although Sutalo was helped by the presence of Borna Sosa and Jakov Medic.

For the upcoming transfer window, it is important that Ajax signs players who speak Dutch, English or Spanish. If Ajax signs players from South America, Ajax must sign multiple players from South or Central America, helping them to adapt to Amsterdam and The Netherlands quickly as they can help each other. Gaston Avila would, despite his injury, play an important role in this too.

With Sivert Mannsverk being the only Scandinavian player in the squad, it might be worth looking at one or two Scandinavian players to accompany him. I must admit I am not 100% sure if Mannsverk is adapting well to Amsterdam/The Netherlands but it could be worth signing one or two Scandinavian players (if they have the required level). Scandinavian players tend to be quite timid.

Gaston Avila is now the only Spanish-speaking player at the club, so as I mentioned in a previous paragraph it might be worth signing two or three South or Central American players in the summer transfer window. I will explain this more in a later paragraph too, as South Americans tend to have a fighter’s mentality (I don’t want to generalize, though) that could help Ajax.

The only two outliers are Josip Sutalo and Ahmetcan Kaplan right now, but as they have had at least a year to study English I think they will have adapted to Amsterdam and The Netherlands by now. It is important that they feel comfortable and trusted at Ajax by the group of players. As an outsider, it is tough to determine whether they are a respected team member. If Sutalo is not trusted by his teammates and coaching staff, it might be a reason to see if Ajax can sell him for a decent transfer fee. However, for now, he gets the benefit of the doubt.

After two years of having an imbalanced squad, it is up to Ajax to create a squad that fights for each other. I think not having many outliers in the squad will help in this process. Having a Dutch core mixed with some Scandinavian and South American players could end up being the ideal mix on paper to create a team that fights for each other and a team that enjoys playing for Ajax.

PERSONALITY

This section is to a certain extent aligned with the previous section. As stated in multiple interviews, Ajax is on the lookout for more new signings with leadership qualities and players with Ajax DNA.

I think Jordan Henderson and Branco van den Boomen have leadership qualities, whilst Steven Berghuis and Remko Pasveer are definitely outspoken players too. Jorrel Hato and Brian Brobbey also are quite outspoken.

Players like Diant Ramaj, Mika Godts and Gaston Avila seem to be players with plenty of confidence and also quite an outspoken character. On the other hand, players like Rensch, Kaplan, Mannsverk, Hlynsson and Sutalo seem to be very introverted and timid.

Looking at our current defence, most players are quite timid or don’t have the experience (Hato) yet to be a leader at the back. Ajax must add a central defender with a lot of experience and potentially Ajax DNA. This defender can have a mentor role which would help players like Hato, Sutalo and also Devyne Rensch to perform better.

Ajax stands for bravery and confidence, but in the current squad, there are way too many players with a timid and unconfident character. It’s a must to add more leaders and players with confidence and bravery to the squad.

I think adding more South American players to the squad could help in this process. They tend to have a fighter’s mentality and an outspoken character. Players like Martinez, Alvarez and Tagliafico have proven in the past to have this winning mentality. Ajax currently lacks players like Martinez, Alvarez and Tagliafico who would put their bodies on the line to win a match.

So, it is a must for Ajax to add more leaders and players with a winning mentality and a fighter’s mentality to the squad. Potential leaders could be players with Ajax DNA, whilst players with a winning and fighting mentality often are players from South or Central America. They are proud to wear the club colours and would do everything to win games.

BUDGET

Ajax’s budget is not unlimited, as we have seen in recent transfer windows and interviews. As Ajax will probably not be in the Champions League this season, I think Ajax will not be able to spend more than €55m-€60m this summer transfer window, but this is merely an estimation.

Ajax will have to rely on their scouting more than ever as it is time to find hidden gems for less than €8m. They will not be able to sign many finished products but will need to sign some players that require an adaptation period. However, with smart scouting Ajax will be able to find upgrades in certain positions for less than €10m.

A brief summary of the previous sections:

SO… WHAT NOW?

Now that we have assessed the gaps in the squad and how to add balance to the squad, it is important to determine the profiles Ajax needs to look for.

Here’s the situation for you once again:

In order of position, I will go into what types of players Ajax needs to go for this summer transfer window:

First of all, Ajax needs to look for a backup goalkeeper for Diant Ramaj. This goalkeeper should add experience to the squad and accept a role as a second-choice goalkeeper. This goalkeeper needs to speak Dutch or English.

As stated in one of the previous sections, Ajax needs a new central defender who adds a lot of experience to the squad and preferably has Ajax DNA. If he agrees to take a huge pay cut (he’s now earning €4m, I think), Toby Alderweireld should be one of the first names on the list. He has proven to be a great mentor for Willian Pacho and could help the likes of Hato, Kaplan and Sutalo to become better central defenders.

Ajax also needs to sign two left-backs. One left-back should be the starting left-back. This left-back needs to be a middle-aged, potentially South American left-back. In my recruitment analysis of last summer, I mentioned Flamengo’s Ayrton Lucas (1997) as a potential signing for Ajax. The second left-back needs to be a young left-back with a high resale value. This left-back can also play 20+ matches in Jong Ajax.

Another position where Ajax needs to make a signing is the central midfield position. I don’t think Henderson and Van den Boomen are a good duo, so Ajax needs to be looking for a starting defensive or central midfielder to partner with Henderson or Van den Boomen. This could be quite a big and more expensive signing and preferably is someone aged 25 or younger with good resale value.

For both left- and right-wing, I would get two young wingers and two wingers with slightly more experience. This will be tough to find in the current market. Godts could fill in at left wing if Ajax can’t find a backup left winger. In this situation, Ajax could look for a winger who can play on both wings. An example is Oscar Perea (2005), whose contract is running out at the end of this calendar year. He’s quite raw but has a lot of potential. An option for the right-wing (backup) is Roger Fernandes (2005), whose contract expires at the end of the current season. Deportivo Cali’s Juan Cordoba (2003) could also be an option based on what I’ve watched, although he is quite raw and would need minutes in Jong Ajax.

As a starter on the left wing, I would try to sign someone with slightly more experience, if possible. I don’t have any options ready right now but players like Jhon Arias (1997) and Alvaro Djalo (1999) could be interesting although they can also play as a right-winger. The same applies to the right-wing position.

I understand this (signing 9 players and selling a lot of players) will be a big task for Ajax and selling unwanted players might be too hard, so it would not be surprising if Ajax gives players such as Borna Sosa, Naci Ünüvar and Kenneth Taylor another chance.

However, looking at the desired squad, Ajax would add players with leadership qualities, players with fighting and winning mentality and more middle-aged players to add balance to the squad to create a squad with great social cohesion and a squad that fights for each other.

Concluding, there is a lot of work to do but I think Ajax could turn into a very interesting project to follow, as there is a lot of room to improve. I hope you enjoyed reading this post as I tried to make it as informative as possible. I will also add a few disclaimers below.