5 football clubs who sold their best players

#2 Ajax

Ajax beat AC Milan in the final to win the Champions League in 1995

Ajax were on top of the world in 1995. Louis van Gaal had worked wonders at the Amsterdam club, leading them to two Eredivisie titles in a row, winning the second one without losing a single game. In fact, that year, the Lancers lost just one game in the Dutch Cup to eventual champions Feyenoord. They followed up their domestic victory in the Netherlands with a victory in Europe after they conquered AC Milan in the final of the Champions League in 1995.

With well-honed academy graduates and superstars like Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Patrick Kluivert, Frank Rijkaard and Edwin van der Sar, the Dutch side looked set on course for years of domination of European football. Many hoped they would be able to replicate the kind of success they had enjoyed in the early 1970s when they won three consecutive European Cups.

However, the Bosman ruling of 1995 meant Seedorf and Kluivert could leave for free at the end of their contract, which they did. By the end of a couple of years, nine of the 16 players from the Champions League-winning side had left.

The players who left went on to win four more European trophies and 28 other titles but Ajax didn’t fare as well. They lost the Champions League final to Juventus and are yet to get anywhere near it since.