John Heitinga
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Coming through the academy at Ajax, Johnny Heitinga was tipped for big things in his career. He spent a total of eight years at the Dutch club, making 154 appearances in the Eredivisie and just fewer than 200 in total.
Heitinga left Ajax in 2008 to join Atletico Madrid for a single season before moving to Everton in the Premier League where he was a key cog in the defence under David Moyes and was voted Everton's Player of the Season for 2011–12 by the club's supporters. After spending five seasons at Goodison Park, he eventually moved to Fulham and then o to Hertha Berlin before ending his career at the age of 32 back at Ajax in 2016.
Julien Escude
The French centre-back only spent three years in Amsterdam, but he will be remembered as part of this Eredivisie winning side. He may not be the most memorable defender, but during the mid-2000’s there was hardly a safer defender than Escude.
The French international left the club in 2006 to join Juande Ramos at Sevilla where he would go on to win multiple UEFA Cups before retiring in Turkey with Besiktas in 2014. At the moment, Escude is occasionally doing punditry across Europe and is enjoying his retirement.
