Ajax

Ajax starlet Frenkie de Jong would reportedly prefer to move to Barcelona ahead of other clubs in the future amid continued speculation about a transfer.

De Jong has enjoyed a rapid rise with the Amsterdam giants and was linked to some big names over the summer. He stayed at Ajax, but according to Xavi Hernandez of Marca, Barcelona remain interested in signing the Dutchman and the admiration is mutual.

"Ajax's sporting director Marc Overmars may have managed to retain him for one more year in the Eredivisie, but everything points to this being De Jong's last season in Amsterdam, with Barcelona his favoured landing spot," Hernandez said.

It's added that key figures at Barcelona are ready to open negotiations with Ajax soon, as they are wary of his price tag increasing if he continues to excel. According to Hernandez, the La Liga side do not want to pay more than €50 million (£45 million).

In addition to Barcelona, Premier League outfit Tottenham Hotspur are also said to be admirers of De Jong. According to Matt Law of the Daily Telegraph, Spurs are ready to make a January offer for the Oranje player.

The progress made by the 21-year-old was capped by a call-up to the senior Netherlands team, and De Jong made his full debut in the clash with world champions France on Sunday. 

Football Talent Scout posted the statistics behind what was an impressive first start for his country:

https://twitter.com/FTalentScout/status/1038889622489759745

The call-up for De Jong was a reward for an excellent 2017-18 season and a fine start to the current campaign. During that time, the player has cemented himself in the Ajax first team and as one of European football's brightest prospects.

De Jong spent the majority of the previous season playing as a centre-back for Ajax, where he would assume the role of a classic libero, venturing forward from deep and getting attacks started with his incisive forward passing.

It's that ability on the ball that's earmarked him for a midfield berth in the future, which is where he was deployed for the Dutch against France. De Jong has also shown an awareness and intelligence that exceeds his tender years.

Barcelona's interest makes sense, although as Dutch Football noted, Overmars said the Catalan club didn't offer enough for him in the previous window:

Ajax director of football affairs Marc Overmars, "Barcelona did not value De Jong enough.

"Barcelona may return for Frenkie in January, but players will not leave in that period." pic.twitter.com/6MTdA255cJ

— Dutch Football 🇳🇱 (@FootballOranje_) September 10, 2018

With De Jong set to make more strides throughout 2018-19, interest in him is only likely to increase. It's why the Blaugrana may be keen to steal a march on potential rivals in pursuit of his signature.

Following his performances for the Netherlands and the continued links to the Camp Nou, the Ajax tyro will find himself under increasing focus. It will be interesting to see how he copes with this added scrutiny in the months to come.  

Ajax have issued a warning to Europe's top clubs that youngsters Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and Donny van de Beek are not for sale. 

Per De Telegraaf (h/t Goal's Chris Burton), Ajax sporting director Marc Overmars insisted the trio will spend another season with the club and even huge offers will not tempt them to sell:

"Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt are not for sale as far as we are concerned. Not even for an insane amount. They should play about 40 games for Ajax first in 2018-19. De Jong to Barcelona? He is not for sale. And I have communicated this to all parties involved. It's the same for Matthijs. Clubs that are interested are free to come back next year.

"Of course, Davinson Sanchez's move last year showed that it is not always easy to stand firm. But we have now reached a point where we simply say that we are not selling these players. They are still only 19, 20 years old. I have told these players and their agents that a transfer after this season could be an option if the right offer comes in."

According to Burton, De Jong is a target for Barcelona, while centre-back De Ligt has been eyed by the Blaugrana, Manchester City and Bayern Munich.

In most circumstances, all three clubs would be able to use their financial clout to snap up the players they want.

But Overmars has made it clear that Ajax will not be tempted by big offers, and the likes of Barca, Bayern and City are either going to have to look elsewhere or return to Ajax next year.

Despite only being 18, De Ligt is already a key part of the Ajax first team and has made 44 Eredivisie appearances in the last two seasons, an indicator of his immense talent.

Midfielder Van de Beek and defender De Jong, 21, are also both crucial players at the Amsterdam Arena, and the trio will be vital as Ajax look to win back the league title next term.

The storied Dutch club have not won the Eredivisie since 2013-14, finishing second in each of the last three campaigns.

It is no surprise that they are eager to keep their talented young squad together, and for suitors of De Jong, Van de Beek and De Ligt, they will seemingly have to wait until next summer. 

Ajax starlet Justin Kluivert has turned down a new deal at the club after accusing them of trying to sell him without his knowledge, with speculation suggesting he is a target for Manchester United.

According to MailOnline's Robert Cottingham, United are interested in Kluivert, who has just one year left on his Ajax contract. And that feeling appears to be mutual, as they are one of several top Premier League outfits he has name-checked as being open to joining.

The 19-year-old also included Tottenham Hotspur in that discussion but said the club tried to sell him to the Lilywhites behind his back.

He told de Volkskrant (h/t Cottingham):

"I'm not renewing my contract at Ajax. Too much has happened. The decreasing morale, lack of confidence, trying to sell me to Tottenham without me knowing.

"I heard about that at the last minute. That says nothing about Ajax, but about the people in the club. They do what they want. I get that feeling again: they do what they want. 

"My plan was to stay, but a lot has happened lately. The fans think that it's only about money, while everyone knows I had it good. I was not waiting for money at all. Football is important. I want to develop myself."

Kluivert shared further complaints to the newspaper:

Justin Kluivert is not happy at Ajax, and the rest of Europe will be on high alert 🚨 pic.twitter.com/R3Q3N4yfIk

— B/R Football (@brfootball) May 17, 2018

The Dutch side's business model in recent years has been to develop and sell their young stars for hefty sums. Last summer, for example, they received £42 million from Spurs for Davinson Sanchez.

The club denied Kluivert's accusation, though, and said it was Spurs who brought up the youngster while negotiating the deal for Sanchez.

Ajax told de Volksrant (h/t Squawka's Harry Edwards):

"In the conversations with Spurs about [Davinson] Sánchez there was a lateral discussion about Justin.

"Spurs' proposal was that he would then play in Amsterdam for another two years and that he would then go to Spurs.

"We did not go further on that, because we wanted to renew the contract with Justin. Just like we want to."

Kluivert, who predominantly plays on the left wing but has also made 10 appearances on the right flank this season, contributed 11 goals and five assists in all competitions this season.

The teenager has been impressive, as WhoScored.com highlighted:

Top rated teenagers in the Eredivisie this season

🥇J. Kluivert -- 7.51
🥈M. Mount -- 7.40
🥉Martin Ødegaard -- 7.36https://t.co/8tcUCizuqB pic.twitter.com/mwXYlSFr9N

— WhoScored (@WhoScored) May 12, 2018

Given the time remaining on Kluivert's contract, Dutch football expert Priya Ramesh believes it makes sense for Ajax to sell him this summer:

https://twitter.com/Priya8Ramesh/status/993875474844700672

Losing him for free next year gains the club little, so while the four-time European champions may not receive as much as they would hope by selling him this summer, they would at least get something for the winger.

The teenager is represented by Mino Raiola, who is also United star Paul Pogba's agent. Raiola also represents Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, who both recently passed through Old Trafford themselves.

The agent's relationship with United could give them a leg up on the competition for Kluivert's signature. The youngster may not yet be capable of commanding a starting berth with the Red Devils, but he has enormous potential and could be acquired relatively cheaply in today's market.

If Justin Kluivert makes his debut for the Netherlands in Friday's friendly against England at Amsterdam's Johan Cruyff ArenA, he will be taking the next step on a journey that began in earnest just across the road on a tiny five-a-side pitch in the autumn of 2008.

The "boardingpitch," as it is informally known at Ajax, is a small, artificial grass pitch flanked by rebound boards that stands tight against the northeastern corner of Stadion De Toekomst, home of the Ajax reserve team, at the heart of the Amsterdam club's De Toekomst training centre. The Johan Cruyff ArenA (as the Amsterdam ArenA was renamed last October) looms in the near distance, a 10-minute walk away beyond the steady hum of traffic on the S111 road.

It was to this pitch that Kluivert, then aged nine, would report at 7:30 every Monday evening for intensive speed and dribbling drills with Ajax academy coach Ruben Jongkind. He would be joined by team-mates Donyell Malen and Bobby Adekanye, who are now on the books at PSV Eindhoven and Liverpool, respectively.

Over the course of their time in Ajax's under-9 and under-10 teams, the trio would be drilled on their movement and agility in weekly 45-minute sessions with Jongkind, a former triathlete, who taught them how to run on the balls of their feet and worked to make their stride patterns more compact.

The tailored approach—individual coaches assigned to small, talented sets of players—would form a central component of the Cruyff Plan, which Jongkind and Wim Jonk, the former head of the Ajax academy, helped to implement following Johan Cruyff's return to the club as a technical adviser in early 2011.

Jongkind recalls a lot of laughter when he casts his mind back to those Monday evenings on the boardingpitch with Kluivert, Malen and Adekanye, but what shines through most strongly is Kluivert's dedication to his craft.

"What I notice all the time when I dive back into my memory is that he always wanted to win," Jongkind told Bleacher Report.

"I made all kinds of games, because you have to make a little bit of competition out of it with small kids, and he always wanted to win those games. Even if it was eight o'clock in the evening, he still wanted to win and he'd always ask, 'Am I doing it correctly? Can I improve?'

"Already at a very young age, he was very streetwise. Even as a small boy, he was asking himself, 'How can I get the most out of this session?'"

As the son of Patrick Kluivert, one of Ajax's most famous sons, Justin Kluivert attracted attention from the day he joined the club at the age of eight, but even with the huge burden of his father's legacy to live up to, he has made remarkably rapid progress.

A right-footed left-winger, Kluivert has always sought to drift infield onto his stronger foot, and when he hit 14, Jongkind and Jonk began to worry that he had become too predictable. Their solution was to field him in different positions—right wing, central midfield—in order to take him outside his comfort zone and force him to develop an ability to move the ball onto his left foot as well as his right.

By the age of 16, he had become a much more well-rounded player, and it was clear that he would not have to wait long for his first-team debut. Footage of his exploits in the youth teams, such as a stupendous solo goal he scored against Feyenoord's under-16s in January 2016, only served to fuel excitement about the very special talent with the very famous father.

He was given his first-team debut by Peter Bosz in January last year, scoring his first goal away to Excelsior in March, and produced some eye-catching displays to help Ajax reach the final of the Europa League in Stockholm, where Kluivert watched from the bench as they lost 2-0 to Manchester United.

He experienced his first setback in October when, having started the campaign playing on the right flank, he lost his place in the side, with new coach Marcel Keizer preferring to use German winger Amin Younes in Kluivert's favoured position on the left. When Younes succumbed to a knee injury, Kluivert seized the opportunity greedily, celebrating his return to the side with a magnificent hat-trick of right-footed strikes—his first treble in senior football—in a 5-1 win over Roda JC. The 18-year-old has started Ajax's last 17 Eredivisie matches, and his goal tally for the campaign stands at seven.

Sander Zeldenrijk, chief editor of the popular fanzine Ajax Life, says that although Kluivert has only been on the first-team scene for a year, there is already a "chemistry" between him and the club's fans.

"He's very popular," Zeldenrijk says. "If your father scored the winning goal in the Champions League final, that gives you a good start, but he has had to prove himself as well. His father stood in the stands [as a fan] and Justin is the same—they have Ajax in their blood. He's only ever played for Ajax. The fans see him as a child of the club."

Kluivert clearly has a long way to go to emulate the achievements of his father, who settled the 1995 Champions League final against AC Milan when he was the same age his son is now, but by scoring a hat-trick in the Eredivisie, Kluivert the winger has already achieved something that Kluivert the striker never did.

Comparisons between the pair are as inevitable as they are unhelpful, but Justin Kluivert wears them lightly. He proudly sports the family name on the back of his Ajax No. 45 shirt, having eschewed the possibility of using his first name instead, and says that talk of his father's feats only makes him more determined to leave his own mark on the game.

"I like it when I'm compared to my dad," he told the UEFA website in 2016. "He had a great career and I hope to have one, too."

His father aside, the Dutch player to whom Kluivert is most often compared is his fellow winger Arjen Robben, but his hat-trick against Roda reminded Jongkind of another Ajax academy graduate.

"Sometimes he reminds me of Christian Eriksen," Jongkind says. "Justin can improve still—he's still way below Eriksen—but he shoots with the same accuracy sometimes. His shooting with a curved ball is very, very good and he's able to finish with both feet, which is very rare."

For Zeldenrijk, the 18-year-old's cocksure demeanour and steely determination call to mind Wesley Sneijder, the most celebrated De Toekomst alumnus of the past 20 years.

"Of course, you cannot compare them, because they're two different players," Zeldenrijk says. "But in terms of focus, mentality and wanting to succeed, Sneijder had it more at this stage, but the gap between them is not that big.

"If you speak to [Kluivert] face-to-face and you look him in the eye, he has this bravura. He speaks with his mouth, but also with his feet. Sometimes players speak with their mouth, but you cannot see it in the feet. Justin plays with his feet as well. That's something they like in Amsterdam."

At international level, Sneijder has had to make way for the new generation of players represented by Kluivert. The 33-year-old midfielder, who joined Qatari club Al Gharafa in January, announced his international retirement earlier this month following a visit from new national coach Ronald Koeman. Robin van Persie was overlooked for Koeman's first squad, while Robben retired from international football in October. Kluivert received his first call-up, along with four other uncapped players.

Friday's game against England, which is followed by a friendly against Portugal in Geneva, represents a reset point for the Dutch national team after their back-to-back failures in qualifying for Euro 2016 and this summer's World Cup. Koeman says he is building "a new Oranje."

It is a little under 14 years since Patrick Kluivert won the last of his 79 international caps in a 1-0 friendly defeat by the Republic of Ireland in June 2004, the best years of his career already behind him at the age of 27 after six seasons of diminishing returns at Barcelona.

His son knows that he, too, will have to leave Ajax one day, and he has already taken steps to prepare himself for the next phase of his career. He has hired Mino Raiola as his agent and cast inviting looks in the direction of the leading clubs in England and Spain in an interview with Helden magazine (via Goal).

Patrick Kluivert urged his son to spend another year at Ajax when speaking to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser (via FourFourTwo), and there is a common consensus in Amsterdam that Justin, who is under contract until 2019, would be best served by getting another full season of first-team football behind him before flying the nest.

For now, at least, Amsterdam remains his playground.

Despite falling to defeat in the UEFA Europa League final against Manchester United in May, Peter Bosz’s youthful, exciting Ajax team emerged from the game with a lot of credit to their name. Such a holistic approach to playing is what fans love to see, and when it’s carried out with a group of players largely still in their teens, it becomes even more impressive.

The likes of Matthijs De Ligt (18) and Kasper Dolberg (19) were among the most talked-about names heading into that final, but it was another—Davinson Sanchez (21)—who truly caught the eye on the night.

The Colombian centre-back joined Ajax from Atletico Nacional in 2016, having initially agreed a deal with Barcelona. Sport reported last summer that the deal had been finalised for €3.5 million, but once it emerged Sanchez would begin his Camp Nou career in the “B” team, he stalled on the offer and Ajax swooped in with what he wanted: first-team football in a European league.

Young players often make the move to prestigious clubs too soon, and they’re often criticised for it using the benefit of hindsight. The most important thing for any player in Sanchez’s position would be to play football for a club whose style suited his attributes, and spurning Barca’s initial interest might well be the best decision he ever makes. He should be praised for the decision made just over 12 months ago.

His football and career prospects have benefited demonstrably from the choice made. He started 32 (of a possible 34) Eredivisie matches for Ajax in 2016-17, and he featured in 12 Europa League games. His defensive partner was switched up throughout the season (De Ligt only emerged post-Christmas), but that didn’t knock him off his stride.

An integral part of a defence that conceded the joint-fewest goals (23) last season, Sanchez stood out as an aggressive, physical presence from the start. He pushes high, ventures into midfield to intercept, sticks to his markers like glue and rarely lets them breathe. 

These are all qualities that suited Bosz’s style perfectly. The Dutch manager utilises a high press and a high defensive line (now with Borussia Dortmund, though, not Ajax), so finding centre-backs who are comfortable operating on the halfway line with acres of space behind them is imperative. Sanchez fits that mould; he has the aggressiveness to push up and squeeze play, but he also has the speed and quickness to recover and chase if the ball slips by him.

There are still times when well-worked moves, or talented one-on-one players, get the better of Sanchez—but that is an inherent, established risk of playing in such a manner. Just recently in the Champions League qualifiers against OGC Nice, Mario Balotelli lured him into deeper areas and turned him a few times, creating big spaces, while Bassem Srarfi ditched him with a slick piece of dribbling.

But moments such as the one pictured, during the Europa League final when Sanchez chased Marcus Rashford down over 20 yards and dispossessed him with a slide tackle, show how even if he's initially beaten, he can recover in spectacular style.

Sanchez’s comfort levels on the ball improved throughout the 2016-17 season, and by the end, he was capable of firing firm, low passes between the lines and into his forwards’ feet. Bringing an element of verticality to play from the back is a trait many managers adore; if you can turn defence into attack with one ball, you’re effective in all three thirds.

The Colombian’s longer switch passes are pretty good, too; he’s able to shift the point of emphasis with the swing of a leg, and at Ajax, his out-ball has often been Amin Younes on the left flank. Sanchez can also be used as a reset point in possession when his team recycle the ball around, with possession going back to him under pressure and him finding a new angle shortly after.

Players who combine all of these traits—aggressiveness, speed, comfort high up and forward passing—are difficult to find. Those who have them and are happy to stand inside the opponent’s half for much of the game, with a large scope for error, are doubly so.

That’s why it shouldn’t surprise that after just one full season in Europe, vultures are circling the skies of Amsterdam, hoping to take Sanchez off Ajax’s hands. The player has admitted he still wishes to play for Barcelona, per Radio Barcelona (h/t ESPN FC), while Sky Sports report Tottenham Hotspur are interested, too.

But if Sanchez were to opt for a move to either, he’d been doing the opposite of what he did last summer: prioritising football. He’s good, but he’s not breaking up the central-defensive partnerships already in place at Spurs or Barca.

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All statistics via WhoScored.com 

Ajax's Abdelhak Nouri collapsed during a pre-season friendly and has been left with serious brain damage.

In the video above, we look at how the world of football has rallied around the talented 20-year-old.

Ajax have announced that Abdelhak Nouri has severe and permanent brain damage following his collapse on the pitch while playing against Werder Bremen on Saturday.

Ajax made the statement on their official English Twitter feed:

https://twitter.com/AFCAjax_EN/status/885454524495867904

Per BBC Sport, he was put in a medically induced coma after his collapse as a result of cardiac arrhythmia, but tests earlier in the week suggested he suffered "no heart or brain damage," with more thorough testing due to take place when he was conscious. 

Per ITV.com, Nouri is due to travel to Amsterdam for treatment, "the chances of recovery are low."

It is thought the damage stemmed from a lack of oxygen supply to the brain following Nouri's collapse.

Former Ajax star Edwin van der Sar, now CEO of the club, said: 

"This the worst possible message. It's terrible. We feel enormously for his parents, siblings and other relatives. Their suffering is impossible to describe. The blow is also being felt at Ajax, though we knew we had to consider this scenario. They were uncertain days, lots of people in different ways have sympathised with his situation. It is greatly appreciated.

"Abdelhak is such a great talent, but unfortunately we will never know how far his star would have reached out would not have happened like this."

Football writers and journalists reacted to the news on Twitter:

From just two months ago, fans chanting Nouri's name after Ajax 4-1 Lyon.. (h/t @JeanPaulRison) pic.twitter.com/JXERe79unD

— Priya Ramesh (@Priya8Ramesh) July 13, 2017

Worst possible news coming out of Ajax. Irrelevant considering the circumstances but Nouri was destined for great things. #StayStrongAppie

— Jonny Coles (@jonnycoles1) July 13, 2017

Sad news 😞. Ajax announce that Abdelhak Nouri has severe brain damage after he collapsed on Saturday. https://t.co/oJguue6rpM

— Kristof Terreur (@kristofterreur) July 13, 2017

I first caught Abdelhak Nouri at the 2014 U17 European Championships. He was influential as the Dutch got to the final. Sad to see this.

— Frankie Taylor (@fptaylormedia) July 13, 2017

Absolutely devastating news about Abdelhak Nouri…

Ajax saying he has severe and permanent brain damage after his collapse. He’s 20. pic.twitter.com/7tJK1B5XrE

— Joe Crann (@YesWeCrann) July 13, 2017

The 20-year-old made 15 appearances for Ajax's senior side last year, while his efforts for their Under-21s in the Dutch second tier earned him the Jupiler League's Player of the Season award.

Ajax midfielder Abdelhak Nouri collapsed during a pre-season friendly against Werder Bremen on Saturday, leading to an immediate suspension of the match.

Per the club's Twitter account (in Dutch), Nouri suffered from arrhythmia. He was reported to be in stable condition and in an induced coma. 

Ajax told Dutch football magazine Voetbal International that Nouri is breathing with the assistance of a machine, per Leander Schaerlaeckens of Yahoo Sports.

Andres Cordero of beIN Sports USA reported medical staff performed CPR on the 20-year-old:

Ajax friendly halted as medics appear to be administering CPR on Abdelhak Nouri. The 20 year-old collapsed on the pitch.

— Dre Cordero (@DreCordero) July 8, 2017

AjaxDaily shared video of the incident and reported the reaction of Nouri's team-mates:

Incoming reports on defibrillators and resuscitation. Players with tears in their eyes. Please Nouri, fight!

— AjaxDaily (@ajaxdailydotcom) July 8, 2017

Nouri did not lose consciousness immediately, and the video showed he was breathing when medical staff made their way onto the pitch.

He received treatment on the pitch, and sheets were used to shield the view of fans and cameras.

The youngster came on in the second half of the game. He is widely regarded as one of the Netherlands' top talents and has been a regular in Oranje's youth setup.

There is something deeply, undeniably satisfying about the prospect of Ajax being back on the big stage, competing in a European showpiece 21 years on from their last.

Those red and white shirts, and the youth, vigour and sheer abandon of the football played by those wearing them in recent months—certainly on the continental stage—has ignited thoughts and hopes of a glorious new dynasty in Amsterdam to add to those that went before.

We are jumping the gun, of course. This is the Europa League, even if the Stockholm final against Manchester United does have a flavour of the Champions League—or, indeed, the pre-1992/93 European Cup—about it.

The swagger of some of those performances at the Amsterdam Arena especially on the way here, however—dazzling as they may have been—have to be set against the flirtations with collapse in the returns with FC Schalke 04 and Lyon in quarter- and semi-finals, respectively, and a failure to win back the Eredivisie title.

This Ajax side is not the finished article, and why would it be? The XI that took the field for the final match of the Eredivisie campaign on May 14—an ultimately in-vain 3-1 win at Willem II—had an average age of 20 years and 139 days, with 24-year-old midfielder Davy Klaassen the only over-21.

20y 139d - @AFCAjax starting XI against Willem II is the youngest ever line-up in Eredivisie history. Exam. pic.twitter.com/gkcC6xyDyG

— OptaJohan (@OptaJohan) May 14, 2017

In the context of the modern game it's remarkable, even bearing in mind that coach Peter Bosz made a few freshening tweaks to the team that just about held on in that frantic second leg at Lyon.

Bosz clearly believes that Kasper Dolberg, the scorer of 23 goals in all competitions this season at the age of just 19, and 20-year-old Davinson Sanchez can deal with the demand for consistency and adaptability. They and their peers have rarely let their coach down.

Yet, even as a new generation begins to bloom and flourish, the past is never far away at Ajax, particularly given the recent announcement that the stadium is set to be named the Johan Cruyff Arena, in honour of the greatest figure in the club's history.

Just over a year after Cruyff's death, it is pertinent not only that his vision of what the club should be is bearing fruit, but that the way back into mainstream view is being led by an avowed disciple of his in Bosz.

This current scenario has its roots in the so-called "Velvet Revolution" of 2011. Cruyff had moved from critic, who told De Telegraaf in September 2010 (as recalled by Elko Born in The Blizzard) that "this isn't Ajax any more," through advisor to revolutionary spearhead.

At the end of March 2011, Ajax's entire advisory board resigned in protest at Cruyff's attempt to push through sweeping changes in the running of the club, with chief executive Rik van den Boog leaving soon afterwards.

This period, in which Cruyff laid down aims to have Ajax run in a style he felt was closer to the club's tradition, with sons of the soil like Dennis Bergkamp and Marc Overmars running the show and the focus to be returned to developing youth, rather than frittering cash on expensive signings, was a pivotal one. In many ways, it laid the groundwork for what is capturing the world's imagination today.

Netherlands-based football journalist Derek Brookman told Bleacher Report: "From one perspective, it's enormously important. It's what he wanted—a team full of young players, largely produced by the club's academy, playing the sort of football he always espoused."

Frank de Boer, who had inherited a sporting mess from Martin Jol when he became coach in December 2010, told this writer in a May 2011 interview for the Independent that a big part of his role had been "to protect the players" from the circus upstairs.

The power struggle carried on until the following year, with Cruyff's philosophical nemesis, Louis van Gaal, appointed as the club's general director in November, an appointment ruled as illegitimate in February 2012, as Born noted.

When de Boer arrived, Cruyff had one of his men at the helm. From the start, he shook things up; he reinstalled the 4-3-3 system and lent on youth.

Despite de Boer's extraordinary success, becoming the first Ajax coach to win four successive league titles, Brookman believes his spell in charge was only some of the way towards what Cruyff eventually envisioned. "De Boer was a fan of Cruyff's ideals," he said, "but he didn't manage to implement quite the same sort of system."

Bosz, on the other hand, has, with the football that has thrilled Europe on the way to the Friends Arena this week evidence of that. "He is a huge fan of Cruyff," Brookman continued, pointing to the time they spent together in Israel when the now-Ajax coach was in charge at Maccabi Tel Aviv, where Johan's son, Jordi, is sporting director.

Everything now is approaching perfect confluence, as Cruyff imagined. Bosz may be in many ways the ideal guardian for the talent, but it is about the conditions that were already set up to provide him with the talent, rather than being about an individual coaching mastermind.

"It's about longer-term thinking," Brookman said. "Players like Donny van de Beek and Matthijs de Ligt have been promoted by Bosz, and they've been schooled over the last four to five years.

"It's not just about what they do on the pitch. They are incredibly calm and focused off the pitch, when you see them interviewed. At 17, De Ligt analyses his own game in detail, which is incredible. It's not just the football, it's how you live your life and how you deal with pressure."

Now, the sense is that this talent has room to breathe, which wasn't always the case pre-2011.

"There was constant bickering," Brookman said. "To an extent, that's part of the club. Former players always had their tuppence worth on what was wrong. Cruyff thought, 'we need to change that. We need to get old players on board who people respect, and to be all pulling in the same direction'."

There is now, says Brookman, "a greater sense of peace" at the club, even if a certain sort of mania will always envelop the club to an extent.

That could reach fever pitch were Ajax to triumph against Manchester United on Wednesday, and it is tough believing that talents like Dolberg, van de Beek and even 17-year-old Justin Kluivert will be together for long enough to truly match the great sides of the past.

"If they perform the way they can in Stockholm," Brookman said, "it's possible that half the team could go." 

Yet, the next crop is ready to go. Brookman added: "If Klaasen goes, for example, Abdelhak Nouri (a consistent scorer with Jong Ajax this season) is ready to step in."

Whatever the future, and the final, may have in store, there is plenty here for the Amsterdammers to be proud of.

While the stadium renaming is a welcome gesture, it is in the daily workings of Ajax—and the return to their roots—where the greatest tribute to Johan Cruyff continues to be paid.

The Europa League final is set, with Ajax gearing up to face Manchester United. The match has huge repercussions, as the winner will earn an automatic bid to the Champions League.

Both clubs held off furious comeback attempts from Lyon and Celta Vigo, respectively, on Thursday. Below, we'll break down the schedule and offer a preview and prediction for the upcoming final.

                

When: Wednesday, May 24 at 2:45 p.m. ET/7:45 p.m. BST

Where: Friends Arena, Stockholm, Sweden

Watch: FS1

Stream: Fox Soccer 2Go

          

Preview

Jose Mourinho has basically put all of his Champions League eggs in the Europa League basket, and he's one win away from being vindicated for doing so.

He defended the approach, keeping his players fresh for the Europa League and resting some of them during the Premier League schedule before Thursday's match, per Mike Whalley of the Telegraph:

"It was completely impossible since the moment we lost players. We lost Chris Smalling and Phil Jones with the international team and [Marcus] Rojo and Zlatan [Ibrahimovic] against Anderlecht. After that we lost good alternatives, [Luke] Shaw, Ashley Young, Tim Fosu-Mensah. When we lost those it was an impossible job.

"It was not a gamble, it was just a consequence of our situation. We are in this situation and we have to fight for it. Let's see if we can do it. It doesn't matter what happens, no regrets. We are giving everything we can, the players and myself. When you give everything, no problem."

On paper, United has the most talent in this matchup. Despite being without Ibrahimovic—the team's top scorer and arguably its best player—United can still lean on a talented lineup led by Paul Pogba, Ander Herrera, Henrikh Mkhitaryan and Marcus Rashford, among others.

More importantly, the Red Devils are generally excellent on defense. They've given up just 27 goals in Premier League play, behind only Tottenham Hotspur (23), and have bought into Mourinho's defensive, counter-attacking style.

They've given up just seven goals in the Europa League, holding Celta Vigo to just one goal over their two semifinal fixtures (and winning 2-1 on aggregate). It hasn't always been pretty, but Mourinho's men have continued their charge through the Premier League.

Don't be surprised if the manager's gamble pays off and they earn an automatic entry to the Champions League.

Ajax, meanwhile, was always expected to advance due to a 4-1 aggregate lead on Lyon coming into Thursday, and the legendary Dutch club handled its business, winning 4-3 on aggregate. It was no small feat for a team that is incredibly young, with seven of the players in the lineup for the first leg aged 21 or under.

Ajax's pressing style and boundless energy make them a difficult matchup for any team. If you are reminded of Pep Guardiola when you watch Peter Bosz's charges on the pitch, well, there's a reason for that.

"Barcelona have a three-second rule. We're not Barcelona, so I put two seconds on," the Ajax head coach told Jacob Steinberg of the Guardian, laughing. "The five-second rule is something that if you lose the ball, this is the best moment to get the ball back again. The opponent needs more or less five seconds to get in the right positions. We have to get it back right away."

He added: "What they call naive is that my defence was on the halfway line with a lot of space at the back. But you have to organise really well. If you do that, you have the five-second rule. You lose the ball and press them immediately, then it's possible. If you look at our performances in Europe, yesterday was [only] the second time we have conceded in our stadium."

While it took a while for Ajax's players to buy into the new system, they eventually embraced the style of play. That has led to a young side that probably will be picked by the European vultures and their wealthy coffers in the future, but for now, their next generation is a promising one.

Victories over FC Schalke 04 and Lyon in the Europa League served as a reminder of just how dangerous they are in the present day as well.

           

Prediction: Manchester United 1-0 Ajax

Ajax versus Manchester United will be a fascinating tactical matchup, reminiscent of the stylistic battles between Barcelona and Real Madrid when Guardiola and Mourinho were the respective managers of those clubs.

Experience may be a key factor. While United have players accustomed to major matchups and high-profile cup ties, Ajax is a younger, more green side. Nearly giving up aggregate leads to both Schalke and Lyon was evidence of that fact.

Ajax also lacks a player of Pogba's ilk, and the Italian superstar could ultimately be the difference in the contest. His ability to affect the game in a number of ways may be too much for the Eredivisie side to overcome.

Add in Mourinho's defensive-minded mentality and United's solid execution of those principles, and the Red Devils should be able to stifle Ajax's possession-based game plan.