There have been constant stories in the Spanish press that they are after him and are putting pressure on Ajax. Stupid amounts of €s are mentioned. Most of these fall in the rumor category and I don't think he is ready for Barca right now.
FDJ would be foolish to transfer out. He hasn't even had a full season yet, last year he was plagued by injuries. I think De Ligt has a better chance of leaving should the crazy offer come in. Nevertheless, for the sake of their development, I hope they stick around for a little while. Help Ajax qualify for the UCL main stage, do well in the group stage, and greater things will follow. Vd Beek is apparently angry and making noise a after being benched. What's up with this kid having a sense of entitlement faced with adversity? Quit whining and work even harder. Prove yourself.
Latest news from the Spanish press is that Frenkie de Jong will transfer to Barca should Ajax fail to qualify for CL. Since the transfer window in Spain does not close until the end of August (I really wish UEFA would harmonize the transfer window among all the Euro FAs) this is entirely possible. I have not seen any valuation listed. Ajax have said that Neres is not leaving this year and it also does not look like de Ligt is going anywhere either. Since Bonucci has moved back to Juve, there is less of a chance for him to move there which was one of the bigger rumors. I have not seen any mention of Ziyech suitors this week at all.
Lyon were after him in case Fekir was sold. They might still sell Fekir before the PL window closes (in a few hours) or it might take a fair bit longer. Just to say the Ziyech to Lyon rumour resurfaced.
It's odd. If the transfer window in one country is closed I would suppose it's not possible to get a transfer out from that country. Closed means to me not in and out of clubs of the league anymore. If it is allowed to transfer out to a country with a still open window, logic tells me that in that case a transfer in from that country must be allowed too.
For those in the US ESPN+ will show the Ajax match tomorrow. They apparently have purchased the Eredivisie rights. Excellent news
The one that has to leave before anybody else is the clueless coach. Ziyech is a deadwood ATM too, so offloading him won't hurt the team. Just an opinion, and we all know the saying about opinions.
England transfer window is now closed and I'm not sure that there are any clubs in Europe that want to pay Ajax's asking price; €25M I think.
Neres seems to be very distracted. I wonder if his head is already somewhere else. Against Standard Liege he was non-existent, also missed a couple good (easy) chances. I watched the last 30 mins of Ajax - Heracles, very little action from Neres, even after Ajax were a goal down and chasing the game. Agree that Ziyech needs to go. Every now and then he produces magical moments, but the rest of the time he just wanders aimlessly. No determination what-so-ever. Labyad is another one who is frustrating to watch. He subs in to be the game-changer, but he adds nothing and his decision making is head-scratching... like skyrocketing a shot from 30+ yards out. Overall there isn't a real hunger from Ajax players. De Ligt, Frenkie and Eiting are the only ones so far this season showing some fire. Mazraoui is actually quite industrious on the right hand side, great energy all around, but I feel like, defensively, he's not anywhere close to Ajax standard. He will be heavily scouted and future opponents will give him tough times, he's a liability.
538 predicts Ajax will win the Eeredivisie ... barely. https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/soccer-predictions/eredivisie/
I wonder how much of this is a result of him playing on the left side rather than the right. Last season he was always dangerous cutting inside and shooting with his favored left foot. He cannot do that on the left side. It's almost like playing Arjen Robben on the left wing rather than the right. I didn't see Saturday's match so cannot comment about that.
Good to hear from you after a long absence!!!! EDIT: The same site has global rankings of all clubs: https://projects.fivethirtyeight.com/global-club-soccer-rankings/?ex_cid=irpromo Ajax are the top ranked Dutch team at #37. I assume this will be downgraded if they do not qualify for the CL group stage.
Mazraoui is not a defender, as Sinkgraven isn't, like Frenkie isn't, like Anita wasn't, the list is much longer. I don't understand this tendency to waste promising MFs trying to convert them into defenders. It seems more logical to promote a natural born defender from the academy or even buy one. In fact they signed Kristensen for this role, but aren't using him. If they feel they have surplus of quality MFs, then they better sell him, rather than stall his development.