Reason #3 to Support Ajax

The team began training camp today. A few new faces are sprinkled throughout, and Gabri now has a few guys to speak his native tongue to besides Luque. We all hope more new faces are on the way, and not just because we need them. Ajax has shown with shocking regularity that they know how to buy the next superstar. And this is the third reason you should be a Ajax supporter. (Numbers 1 and 2 came earlier)

So, since any team with money can buy a superstar, and only a few teams can grow them, the next best thing is to scout well and broadly and find the next big thing before anybody else. Buy low, reap the benefits, then perhaps sell high. It is almost as sexy as having your own youth program. And Ajax can scout with the best of them.

Whatever talent they could not produce from their own academy, Ajax has been able to find in some rather obscure places. They have been masters at trawling out-of-the-way leagues to discover the rare talent. I don’t need to introduce a few of these guys. Zlatan Ibrahimovic came in from Malmö FF in his native Sweden. He turned out to be OK. Steven Pienaar came in from Ajax Cape Town and has recently broken through in the EPL. Benni McCarthy was another Ajax CT connection. After he left Amsterdam with 20 goals to his name he ended up in Porto and now Blackburn. The world was introduced to Egyptian striker Mido in Amsterdam after his move from KAA Gent in Belgium. Kanu scored a ton of goals for Ajax before moving on to Inter and Arsenal.

Many people forget that Maxwell’s first stop in Europe was Ajax, not Inter. They used him as a fullback because they were already loaded on the wing. Jari Litmanen starred at Ajax for years, scoring 91 times, before moving on to Barca and Liverpool. He eventually came back to Ajax, the club that plucked him from Finnish club side MyPa. Only Ajax knew where the club played its matches, so there was little competition. Another Finn, Petri Pasanen, came from club side FC Lahti and performed well enough in Amsterdam. Jesper Grønkjær came to Ajax from Danish side AaB before moving on to outpace everyone in the EPL. Ajax went back to Malmö FF to sign Markus Rosenberg a few years back, who was unceremoniously dumped but now looks like a decent purchase we might have held onto a bit longer. Scandanavia has been good to us, yeah?

So, what can we conclude? Ajax knows how to pluck talent from obscurity, polish it a bit, and make it shine. History tells us that at least one of the players recently brought in from an obscure, remote club is likely to make a big splash. Who will it be? Will it be Argentine Dario Cvitanich from Banfield? South African Daylon Claasen from Ajax Cape Town? Or will the next Zlatan be named in a few more weeks?

And now for a few bits-o-news:
> Luque is playing dumb, acting like he has not been told he is dead weight. Danny Blind, with teeth gritted, reiterated the message we all saw coming since his second or third appearance for the club: he must go. Maybe we can get a fee for him. Or he will move on a free to a third-tier side in Belgium. Do I care? No. Just get his contract off the books.

> Ismael Aissati has reportedly reneged on his loan move to FC Utrecht. PSV claims no offer has come from Ajax. I would love to see this guy in Amsterdam, and, as far as rivals go, a deal with PSV is not impossible. Silly mercenaries over in Eindhoven; they do not even know how to engage in blood feud. Keep your ear to the ground in this one. MvB played him more than I expect at Euros, so there may be something coming. Maybe a straight-up trade for Perez?

> Cvitanich has pledged his intent to play for the Croatian national team instead of the Argentine side. His grandparents must be ecstatic. I can’t blame him. You can play with Modric or sit behind Aguero, Messi and company for the rest of your career. Good call, Dario. See you in South Africa, maybe?

Category: Team News

Tags: Team News

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