How Ajax could have lined up if they hadn’t sold their star players

When there is a discussion on the best academies in the world, without a hint of doubt, Ajax should be in the top 3 football youth academies. Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Dennis Bergkamp, Frank Rijkaard and the de Boer brothers are few of the many notable academy graduates from the yesteryears.

In 1995, when Ajax won the UEFA Champions League, eight of the players who started the match were from the club’s academy. In addition, Patrick Kluivert, who scored the only goal of the game off the bench, is also a product of the famed academy.

In addition to possessing an outstanding youth setup, the club also has a superb scouting network which has helped them sign a lot of promising players at a young age.

However, Ajax’s success has come at a huge cost. They keep losing their best players to Top European clubs with much better finances and if they didn’t lose their star players, then they would have lined up a potential Champions League winning squad.

Note - This XI only features only active players.

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Goalkeeper - Jasper Cillessen (Barcelona)

Cillessen is the Netherlands' first choice goalkeeper

Jasper Cillessen is not a product of the Ajax academy. Instead, he was signed by Ajax in 2011 from fellow Eredivisie club Nijmegen Eendracht Combinatie.

Ajax signed him for €3m and he predominantly played as an understudy to Kenneth Vermeer in his first two seasons. He became the club’s first-choice goalkeeper in 2013/14 and forced Vermeer to move to Feyenoord at the end of the season.

Cillessen was also made the Netherlands’ first-choice goalkeeper for the 2014 FIFA World Cup and he started every game for his country as they finished third. For Ajax, he was the undisputed number one for two more seasons before switching to Barcelona for €13 million transfer fee plus another €2 million in add-ons.

The 29-year-old has played as a backup to Marc-André ter Stegen at Barcelona and he is arguably the best backup goalkeeper in the world at the moment.

Honourable mentions - Maarten Stekelenburg (Everton)

Centre-backs - Toby Alderweireld (Spurs), Jan Vertonghen (Spurs) and Davinson Sanchez (Spurs)

Vertonghen and Alderwiereld have played together for Ajax, Spurs and Belgium

Tottenham has four key first team players formerly of Ajax and three of them are their first, second and third choice centre-backs.

Jan Verteonghen and Toby Alderweireld came through the club’s academy and played 220 games and 186 games respectively before joining Spurs and Atletico Madrid respectively.

The two Belgian defenders demonstrated their versatility at Ajax with the left-footed Vertonghen capable of playing at left-back and the right-footed Alderweireld capable of playing as a right-back.

Sanchez is Spurs' record signing

Davinson Sanchez is the most recent addition to the Spurs squad from Ajax and the Colombian defender is much younger than the abovementioned Belgians.

Sanchez joined Ajax from Atlético Nacional in 2016 for €5 million and in his debut season, he helped the club reach the final of the UEFA Europa League. He is an athletic defender but what makes him special is his composure and ability with the ball at his feet.

Many top European clubs were interested in Sanchez but it was Spurs that signed him for a club record £42 million.

Wing-backs - Kenny Tete (Olympique Lyon) and Filipe Luis (Atletico Madrid)

Tete has been linked with a move to Wolves in January

The right-back, Kenny Tete, is also a product of the Ajax youth system. He joined the Ajax academy at the age of ten and progressed through the ranks before making his senior team debut during the 2014/15 season aged 19.

Tete played 55 times for the senior team scoring once before moving to Ligue 1 giants Olympique Lyon in 2017 for a nominal fee. He has been a regular starter for the young Lyon side and made headlines last season for a terrific performance against Neymar in a league match.

The Netherlands international is reportedly close to moving to the Premier League to play for Wolverhampton Wanderers.

Luis never played for the Ajax senior team

Filipe Luis started his career with Brazilian club Figueirense and his first club in Europe was Ajax. He was at the club for one full season but didn’t feature for the first team at any point despite making the bench on a few occasions.

The Brazilian, however, has credited the Dutch club for helping him learn the tactical aspects of the game and for aiding his development by allowing him to train with players like Wesley Sneijder and Rafael van der Vaart.

Luis went on to have a successful career after leaving Ajax most notably playing for Atletico Madrid and Chelsea.

Honourable mention - Gregory van der Wiel (Toronto FC)

Midfielders - Frenkie de Jong (Barcelona), Wesley Sneijder (Al-Gharafa) and Christian Eriksen (Spurs)

De Jong cost Barcelona 75 million euros

Frenkie de Jong is a generational talent and there was a battle for his signature between Europe’s biggest clubs before Barcelona announced that the Dutchman will join them next summer for a reported €75 million, plus a further €11 million in possible add-ons

De Jong has only played 65 games for the Ajax senior team and five games for the Dutch national team but he commanded such a high fee because of the ability he showed in those games which defied his age.

The 21-year-old could be a potential long-term replacement for Sergio Busquets in the Barcelona midfield.

Sneijder notably played for Real Madrid and Inter Milan after leaving Ajax

Wesley Sneijder is arguably the best player to come through the Ajax academy in the 21st century. Sneijder played 180 games for Ajax in five seasons scoring 58 goals before a big move to Real Madrid.

After only two seasons with Real Madrid, Sneijder left the club to join Inter Milan where he played a pivotal role in helping the club win the treble before leading the Netherlands to the final of the FIFA World Cup. Controversially, he didn’t win the Ballon d’Or in 2010.

The 34-year-old who currently plays for Al-Gharafa in Qatar is nearing the end of his playing days and recently retired from international football after scoring 31 times in 134 games.

Ajax sold Eriksen for only 11 million pounds

Christian Eriksen is the fourth former Ajax player on this list who is currently playing for Tottenham Hotspur and like Jan Vertonghen and Toby Alderweireld, Eriksen is also a product of the club’s famous academy.

The Dane played 162 games for Ajax scoring 32 goals before joining Tottenham for only £11 million!

Eriksen has been a figure of consistency at Spurs since his arrival and has scored 62 goals in 254 games for the North London club.

Honourable mentions - Riechedly Bazoer (FC Utrecht), Nigel de Jong (Al Ahli) and Davy Klaassen (Werder Bremen)

Forwards - Zlatan Ibrahimovic (LA Galaxy) and Luis Suarez (Barcelona)

Ibrahimovic was sold after a fall out with Rafael van der Vaart

There are only five active players with over 400 career goals and two of them, Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Luis Suarez, have played for Ajax.

Ajax was Zlatan’s first major club in Europe and he joined them in 2001 from Malmo for €8.7 million. The Swede scored 48 goals in 110 games for the Eredivisie club before joining Juventus in 2004 for €16 million.

Ibrahimovic was sold by Ajax abruptly after a fall out with then Ajax captain Rafael van der Vaart after the latter accused Zlatan of intentionally hurting him during an international match.

Suarez was sold after his first biting incident

Just like Ibrahimovic, Luis Suarez’s departure from Ajax was also controversial.

Suarez joined Ajax in 2007 from fellow Eredivisie club Groningen and he scored 111 goals in 159 games for the club in only three and a half seasons.

In November 2010, Suarez bit PSV’s Otman Bakkal and was suspended for seven games by the KNVB. It was during his suspension that he transferred to Liverpool.

The Uruguayan has gone on to score a plethora of goals at Liverpool and Barcelona while winning the European Golden Shoe once each with both clubs.

Honourable mentions - Arkadiusz Milik (Napoli), Ryan Babel (Fulham) and Justin Kluivert (Roma)

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You can also find similar XIs of players sold by Chelsea, Liverpool, PSG, Manchester City, Arsenal, Sevilla, Southampton, Borussia Dortmund, Monaco, Roma, Basel, Benfica and Dinamo Zagreb.