10 of the best Ajax academy products produced in the last decade

A name that is synonymous with the Netherlands and their concept of Total Football, Ajax Amsterdam has been one of the pioneers in changing the style of football. The first club that comes to our mind on mention of the Eredivisie, Ajax is one of the most successful clubs in the country with 33 league titles and 18 KNVB cups in the domestic circuit and are one of the 22 clubs that have been able to win the coveted Champions League trophy. The Dutch giants sit 6th on the list of clubs with the most number of Champions League trophies with 6.

The Dutch giants though have somehow fallen way off the top from the bracket of the biggest teams in Europe to another team that qualifies to the knockout stages of the Champions League. This year though has seen some sparks returning back to the Ajax stable.

With a youthful team comprising of much sought out talents like Onana, Van de Beek, Frankie de Jong, Kasper Dolberg, Hakim Ziyech and the rest, Ajax looked destined to bring back their glory days if they are able to keep most of their stars.

Here we take a look at the 10 best academy products produced by Ajax in the last decade.

#1 Thomas Vermaelen

A case of what could have been if not the injuries that ravaged the central defender, Thomas Vermaelen has had an impressive yet injury-ravaged career so far that has seen the Belgian international playing for the likes of Arsenal, Barcelona and AS Roma after moving away from Ajax.

Thomas Vermaelen joined the Ajax Academy in 2000 at the age of 15 and made his professional debut for the Dutch giants in 2003. The central defender spent 5 seasons with Ajax and even served as the captain of the team since the departure of Klass Jean Huntelaar before making his own move away from the club to Arsenal in 2009.

Remembered for his defensive partnership with John Heitinga and later Jan Vertonghen, the Belgian won the Eredivisie once, KNVB Cup twice and the Johan Cruyff Shield twice.

The career away from Ajax saw the Belgian starting his injury problems. The first few seasons at Arsenal were his best as injury were far less for the Belgian the later years saw the defender missing a total of 88 matches during his 5-year stay in London. The Belgian was named captain after the departure of Robin Van Persie and won a FA Cup during his time in London before moving to Barcelona in 2014.

It was in Barcelona that the defender had his most injuries with Vermaelen missing 104 matches in his Barcelona career with an additional 17 during his loan spell at AS Roma. The defender who still plies his trade in Barcelona has had a trophy-laden career with the Blaugrana with the Belgian winning 3 La Liga, 2 Copa del Rey, 1 Supercoppa, 1 Champions League, 1 Club World Cup, and 1 UEFA Super Cup.

#2 Jan Vertonghen

The most capped player in the history of Belgium, Jan Vertonghen is one of the best defenders in the world at the moment. The Belgium though has made just a single move in his career so far, joining Tottenham Hotspur after moving away from the Dutch giants.

The second Belgian on the list, Jan Vertonghen joined Ajax in 2003 and made his Ajax debut in 2006 starting his footballing career as a midfielder before being made into the center back. The first season of his professional career was spent on loan RKC Waalwijk and was tipped for great things with Dutch legend Joha Cryuff expressing his admiration of the young left-footed player.

John Heitinga's move away from Ajax in the 2008-09 season resulted in Vertoghen getting his big break and partnering Thomas Vermaelen in the heart of the defense. The Belgian central partnership was very impressive but failed to win the league with his counterpart. After Vermaelen left for Arsenal in 2009, Vertonghen had another Belgian and a future Tottenham Hotspur teammate Toby Alderweireld to partner him in defense.

Under the defensive partnership of the Belgian duo, Ajax won two successive Eredivisie. Vertonghen was made captain in 2011 and won the KNVB twice along with his league titles and made his way to Tottenham Hotspur in 2012 after 6 years in Amsterdam.

One of the star performers in Tottenham recent rise to the title contention status in the Premier League, Jan Vertonghen has been a rock at the defense along with his Ajax and Belgium partner Toby Alderweireld.

Belgian debut season saw him being named in the PFA team of the year. The arrival of Mauricio Poechettino in 2014 saw the Belgian going out favor at first before being made the Argentine's No.1 trusted defender. It was under the guidance of the former defender that Jan Vertonghen has blossomed into one of the best in the world.

A versatile player capable of playing in the left side of defense and midfield, Vertonghen has so far made 275 appearances for the Spurs and scored 10 goals in the process.

#3 Toby Alderweireld

One of the best defenders in the Premier League

The third Belgian on the list, Toby Alderweireld along with compatriot Jan Vertonghen forms one of the best defensive partnership in the world. Toby has plied his trade in Spain with Atletico Madrid before joining Tottenham Hotspur after an impressive spell on loan at Southampton from Atletico Madrid.

Toby Alderweireld joined the Ajax Academy in 2004 aged 15 and signed his first professional contract in 2007 with the Dutch giants. His Ajax debut though came 2 years later in January 2009. Like Jan Vertonghen made his way into the Ajax first team setup after the departure of John Heitinga, Toby Alderweireld broke into the first team and occupied the vacant center back role left behind by Thomas Vermaelen who moved to Arsenal in 2009.

The Belgian duo of Vertonghen and Alderweireld formed an impressive center back partnership as Ajax won two successive Eredivisie titles (2010-11, 2011-12) and added a third one in 2012-13 with Toby Alderweireld in the heart of the defense after Vertonghen left for Tottenham in 2012.

The Belgian also scored the 100th UEFA Champions League goal for the Duch giants when he scored against AJ Auxerre in the 2010-11 season.

Toby Alderweireld, after 3 successive Eredivisie titles along with a KNVB and Johan Cruyff Shield each, left the Netherlands to join Atletico Madrid in 2013. The Belgian found in hard to break into the Rojiblancos starting XI with Miranda and Diego Godin having a tremendous season as Atletico Madrid reached the finals of the Champions League and won their first La Liga title in 18 years.

A loan move to Southampton followed the next season which culminated with the Belgian moving to White Hart Lane in 2015 after impressing in the Premier League during his time with the Saints.

The move saw Alderweireld rejoining Christian Eriksen and Jan Vertonghen, who had joined Spurs earlier. The first season in London saw Alderweireld being named in the PFA team of the year and achieving the meanest defensive record in the league. The next season saw Aldweireld missing a couple of matches with injury but still achieving Tottenham Hotspur's best defensive record ever with just 26 goals conceded. Last year again saw the center back missing many a match with an injury.

Even though Alderweireld has been in and out of the team with injuries the Belgian remains one of the best central defenders in the league. Toby Alderweireld has so far made over 150 appearances and scored 6 goals for the London club.

#4 Christian Eriksen

The third Tottenham player in the list, Christian Eriksen joined the Dutch giant's academy just 11 years ago in 2008 after deciding to move to the Netherlands even though he underwent trails in Manchester United, Real Madrid, and AC Milan.

It just took two years for the Danish playmaker to get himself into the starting XI of the Dutch giants and even made his international debut in the same year while also becoming the youngest player in the 2010 FIFA World Cup held in South Africa.

Christian Eriksen made his first team appearance in 2010 and quickly entered into the Ajax first team foray as Martin Jol praised the youngster and even compared him to his former youth products Wesly Sneijder and Rafael Van der Vaart as well as to Denmark's greatest player ever, Michael Laudrup.

The 2010-11 season saw the Danish midfielder becoming one of the first names on the teamsheet as Ajax won the Eredivisie after a gap of 7 years along with future teammates Toby Alderweireld and Jan Vertonghen.

The next two season saw the influential midfielder guiding Ajax to two more Eredivisie as the Danish midfielder picked up the player of the year award in 2011.

After three successive Eredivisie titles and 162 appearances with 32 goals, Eriksen made his move to the Premier League to join Tottenham Hotspur as he followed Jan Vertonghen, who made his move to the White Hart Lane a year earlier.

Christian Eriksen eased into the Premier League quite comfortably as he became the creative playmaker in the Spurs midfield. The arrival of Mauricio Poechettino saw the Danish playmaker blossoming into one of the best midfielders in the league. In the first season under the Argentine Eriksen scored 12 goals from open play, his highest in a season.

The following seasons saw Tottenham, as well as Eriksen, moving up a gear as the midfielder became the highest scoring Danish player in the league, overtaking Nicklas Bendtner. This rise in the level of the Eriksen and his teammates saw Tottenham Hotspur coming out of their mid-table status to genuine Premier League contenders as they finished thrice in the Top 4 in the last 3 years.

A magician on the ball who is able to dictate play from any part of the midfield, Eriksen has so far made 264 appearances for Spurs and scored 63 goals.

#5 Daley Blind

Another member of the team that consisted of Jan Vertonghen, Christian Eriksen and Toby Alderweireld, Daley Blind was born in 1990 to Ajax legend and former Netherlands manager Danny Blind.

Blind joined his hometown club Ajax Amsterdam Academy in 1998, aged just 8. The defensive-minded player spent 10 years in the Academy slowly rising up the ranks before earning promotion to the senior team in the 2008-09 season. Daley Blind made his debut against FC Volendam in 2008 and went onto make 6 appearances in his first season as a professional for Ajax.

The following season was spent on loan at Groningen before returning back the next season to play a small part in Ajax 30th Eredivisie title in 2010. The versatile midfielder still failed to break into the starting XI and took him another 2 years to become a starter for Ajax under Frank de Boer in the 2012-13 season, winning the Ajax player of the year season that year. The next season saw Blind winning the Dutch player of the season as well as the fourth consecutive Eredivisie title for Ajax.

The next season saw Daley Blind moving to England like his teammates, joining Manchester United to unite with Netherlands manager Louis Van Gaal. The first two seasons saw Blind being an integral part of the Manchester United setup, being deployed in a variety of roles from center back, left back, left midfield, defensive midfield, and center midfield.

The arrival of Jose Mourinho saw the Dutch international's chances being restricted as he failed to hang onto to a starting place in the team, before making his way back into the first team in place of the out-of-form Luke Shaw. Blind was an integral part of the team that defeated his former club Ajax in the UEFA Europa League title in 2017. The 2017-18 season saw Blind's chances being reduced to just 17 appearances.

The following season saw Blind returning back to his former club Ajax after 4 seasons in England that saw him winning the FA Cup, EFL Cup, Community Shield and the Europa League.

Daley Blind has so far made 185 appearances for Ajax and scored 6 goals including his first ever senior hat-trick.

#6 Davy Klaassen

The fifth member of that wonderfully talented squad of the 2011-12 season, Davy Klassen like Daley Blind joined the Academy at a very young age, aged 9 in 2004. The attacking midfielder though joined the Academy only after impressing the Dutch giants' scouts while playing for the youth ranks local amateur side HVV de Zebra's and later HSV Wasmeer.

The young Klassen made his professional debut 2011 in a UEFA Champions League match against Olympique Lyon and his first start the very same year in December against RKC Waalwijk. The attacking midfielder though had to wait for his next appearance as he found it hard to break into the midfield anchored by Christia Eriksen, making just 2 appearances in the next season.

The 2013-14 season saw Klaassen getting his big break as the midfielder was promoted after the departure of Christian Eriksen to Tottenham Hotspur. The breakthrough season saw Klaassen scoring 11 goals in 36 appearances for the Dutch giants.

Nicknamed "Cheese straw" or kaasstengel, Klaassen influence in the team grew year by year as the midfielder was given the No.10 jersey after the departure of Siem De Jong to the Premier League. The next season saw Klaassen being given the captain's armband after the departure of his present Werder Bremen teammate Niklas Moisander to Sampdoria.

Another season in the Netherlands was soon followed by a move to the Premier League as his former manager Roald Koeman, at the helm of Everton, came calling for the attacking midfielder.

Davy Klaassen's time at the Merseyside was rather painstaking as the attacking midfielder found it hard to break into the team after the sacking of Koeman and a poor string of performances. The newly appointed Sam Allardyce opted for a more defensive approach.

The time in England was soon forgotten as Klaassen made his move to the Bundesliga after Werder Bremen agreed on a fee for the Dutch international.

Davy Klaassen who now plays for Werder Bremen made 181 appearances for Ajax, scoring 55 goals and winning the 3 successive Eredivisie titles.

#7 Justin Kluivert

Big things are expected from the youngster

A name that is familiar in the pantheons of Dutch football, Justin Kluivert has very heavy shoes to fill in. The name Kluivert brings back memories of one of the best phases of Ajax football post-Johan Cruyff era. The striker, Justin's father, was one of the key members of the Ajax team that shook the world and won the Champions League in 1994 under the watchful eyes of now retired manager Louis Van Gaal.

Justin Kluivert was born to Ajax, Barcelona and the Netherlands legend Patrick Kluivert in 1999 and like his father came through the famous Ajax youth program. The young Kluivert made his professional debut in 2016, aged 17, in the reserve team of Ajax, Jong Ajax.

The promotion to the senior team soon followed as Ajax gave the 17-year-old his debut for the Dutch giants in the very next month against PEC Zwolle, coming off the bench.

The next season saw the teenager being given the role of the main striker as Kluivert opened his account in the league by scoring a hattrick, something that his father failed to do so during his time in the Dutch league.

After almost 11 years, 56 appearances and 13 goals for the Dutch giants young Justin Kluivert made his move south to join Italian side AS Roma for a fee in excess of €15 million following a call made by Italian and Giallorossi legend Francesco Totti to Justin Kluivert.

The season under the Giallorossi has so far not been rosy for the teenager, with seasoned campaigners like Edin Dzeko and Stephan El-Sharaawy higher above the pecking order along with the emergence of Niccolo Zaniolo.

A full Netherlands international, Justin Kluivert became the youngest ever player to score in the UEFA Champions League for Roma when he netted in the fourth goal against Viktoria Plzen in October.

The 19-year old has so far made 16 appearances for the Giallorossi and scored twice for them.

#8 Kenny Tete

One of the more recent crops of talented youngsters to be churned out from the Ajax stable, Kenny Tete joined the Ajax academy in 2005 at the age of 10. The young full-back quickly went up the ranks as he signed his first professional contract in 2012 after helping his U-17 team win the B-Junior Eredivisie.

Unlike the others on the list, Tete ever made it to the first team or the Jong Ajax team after signing his professional contract, rather spent his first season as a professional in the U-19 league. The next season saw the teenager getting his maiden call up to the squad, participating in the first team preseason tour.

The professional debut for Ajax had to wait still as Tete was promoted to the Jong Ajax team after the preseason and made his first professional appearance in the 2nd tier of Dutch football against Telstar in August.

Another year followed without any promotion to the first team before finally, the manager decided to give the young Tete a taste of the Eredivisie in the second half of the 2014-15 season, coming on as a sub against AZ Alkmaar in February. The season after his debut saw Tete being given more chances as he made more than 30 appearances in the season, an ankle injury hindering any more appearances for the season.

The 2017-18 season though was the hardest for the young Tete as Joel Veltman proved too good to be replaced as the 27-year old had an impressive season that kept Tete out of the team.

Finally, with first-team football hard to come by Kenny Tete made the decision to move down south to France, joining Olympique Lyon in 2017. With a long career ahead of him, Tete can turn himself into a household name if he fulfills his potentials.

#9 Donny Van de Beek

The second half of the ridiculously talented Ajax centre midfield anchored by Frenkie De Jong. Donny Van de Beek has been one of the key figures in Ajax return to the quarterfinals stage of the UEFA Champions League.

The midfielder joined the Academy at the age of 11 in 2008 and made his professional debut for Jong Ajax against Sparta Rotterdam January 2015, aged 17. The first team call up soon followed as the teenager made his Ajax debut in UEFA Europa League match against Celtic in November 2015.

The 2016-17 season saw Van de Beek cementing his place in the Ajax starting XI after impressing the new manager Peter Bosz. The centre midfield was one of the members of the side that qualified to the final of Europa league against Manchester United.

Donny Van de Beek is blessed with excellent control and an eye for a pass. The centre midfielder has so far made 118 appearances and scored 24 times for the Dutch giants.

#10 Matthijs de Ligt

One of the most talented youngsters to come out of the Ajax stable in recent times, Matthijs de Ligt joined the Ajax academy at the age of 9.

De Ligt made his professional debut for Jong Ajax in August 2016, just 4 days before he turned 17 and made his Ajax debut a month after against Willem II. The teenager quickly established himself in the first team mould as he proved valuable to be dropped.

The defender was a key player in the UEFA Europa league finals run in the 2016-17 season, becoming the youngest player ever to play in a European Cup final, aged 17. The same year saw the defender making his international debut, becoming the youngest player to start for the Dutch football team since 1931.

The sale of Davinson Sanchez to Tottenham Hotspur the following season saw the De Ligt being elevated to the first team status and accepting more responsibilities. The same season the 18-year old being named the captain after Joel Veltman was out with injury.

The 2018-19 season saw De Ligt being named the captain of the Dutch giants. De Ligt became the youngest captain to lead his side into the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League against Real Madrid. The center midfielder also became the youngest player in Ajax history to make 100 appearances for the club.

Matthijs De Ligt is already tipped for a great future with center back already amongst one of the best central defenders in the world. The teenager is earmarked for a big move away from his boyhood club with every top club in the world after his signature.

Edited by Nnanna Mba