Ajax has gone completely haywire, bought literally an entine new eleven, for a total 100m+ euros..
Ranaj (8m)
Gaaei (5m) Sutalo (23m) Medic (2m) Avila (12m)
Tahirovic (8m) Mannsverk (6m) vd Boomen (free)
Mikautadze (16m) Akpom (12m) Fors (16m)
I really do think they needed a fresh 11, too much talent has been lost the past 2 years and the replacements that had been drafted in by VDS/Hamstra were an unmitigated disaster. Once you look at last year’s window from afar it’s almost a bloodbath.
-Bergwijn has done well but certainly not club record arrival well
-Bassey is gone
-Brobbey I won’t be too harsh on since MK’s best position meant leaving him out for a large portion of the season
-Wijndal… yea
-Kaplan injured his entire time here
-Rulli a success
-Sanchez I genuinely think might be the worst “already a multiple season established senior player” I’ve seen at Ajax and is now gone
-Conceicao hasn’t been given enough minutes to make a definitive statement
-Grillitsch is gone
-Not to mention the loan of Ocampos who could rival Sanchez for his crown, loan promptly terminated.
Granted this is hindsight, and I think everyone (including myself) thought Wijndal would impress, but last summer looks grim. 3/9 permanent signings are gone, 1 has been injured throughout, Brobbey and Conceicao jury is out on (promising signs for Brobbey but still), 1 a success, 1 a half success relative to the amount paid, and 1 more for the scrap heap.
I don’t know whether all these signings will pan out or not, they’re mostly from leagues or competitions I don’t watch and won’t pretend I know anything. But the squad definitely needed a facelift.