Ajax 'Not Sad' About Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong Exits, Says Dusan Tadic
Ajax sold two rare prospects when Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong left this summer, but club captain Dusan Tadic has said the team "were not sad" after they joined Juventus and Barcelona, respectively.
Tadic, 30, took the armband following De Ligt's departure and is already off to a flying start this season. He spoke to the Telegraph's Luke Edwards ahead of Ajax's UEFA Champions League group-stage opener at home to Lille on Tuesday:
"We were not sad De Jong and De Ligt left. We will miss them, but it's the next step for them and Ajax likes to support their players who feel the time is right to move on.
"They have both gone to big clubs, nobody was surprised. The nice thing is, there were a lot of other players who could have left and decided to stay because they are having their best days here. This is important.
"It will be harder without those two, but not impossible. We still have a good team. We can still win trophies. We can still do well in Europe, and there are more young players coming through who will make their impact."
Player turnover is traditionally frequent at the Johan Cruyff Arena. Ajax are renowned for their ability to produce and develop talent—both foreign and those local to the Netherlands—before selling for big profit.
Tadic continued: "Ajax have sold big players before, that is the way of life for us, so it is up to the young players to stand up and take more responsibility. They will have a chance, there are so many of them coming through."
The Serb already has eight goals and five assists in 10 appearances this season, recording 10 direct goal contributions (five goals, five assists) in five Eredivisie matches alone.
Squawka noted his importance to Ajax's pressing tactics during last term's run to the Champions League semi-finals, when they exited on away goals after drawing 3-3 with Tottenham Hotspur on aggregate:
Tadic isn't in doubt as to the quality De Ligt and De Jong provided—Ajax won a domestic double last term. But the new captain has faith in the fresh team taking shape under manager Erik ten Hag.
Ajax received €75 million from Juve and Barca for each of De Ligt, a club product, and De Jong—who joined in from Willem II in 2015 for €1 (plus 10 per cent of his future transfer fee), according to 433 (h/t AS). The Amsterdam giants brought in another €20 million (£18.2 million) when they sold Kasper Dolberg to Nice in August.
The club reinvested a combined €22 million to sign centre-backs Lisandro Martinez (€7 million) and Edson Alvarez (€15 million), per Bobby McMahon of Forbes.
Winger Quincy Promes also arrived from Sevilla for a reported €16 million, while the club did well to keep hold of players like Donny van de Beek, Nicolas Tagliafico and David Neres.
Tadic—who recently extended his contract to 2023—is one of the veterans in the team, but he has enjoyed a resurgence in the Netherlands since he joined from Southampton in 2018, via BT Sport (UK only):
De Ligt and De Jong have each encountered struggles early on in Turin and Catalonia, respectively. The former has been guilty of some noteworthy mistakes in Juve's defence already, while De Jong hasn't had quite the calming effect Barcelona hoped for.
Many will wonder about the gaps left at Ajax after that star pair left; Tadic is more interested in who is ready to break through at Ajax in their places.
