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

#8 Kenny Tete

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.