Ajax hopes to sign a well-known ex-player of the club in January
Friday, December 22, 2023 at 5:29 PM
Kelvin de Lang has the tough task of guiding Ajax through the winter transfer period. After the dismissal of football affairs director Sven Mislintat, the head scout of the Amsterdam team has temporarily become responsible for the purchase and sales policy in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. “We first look at our own youth, then at ex-Ajax players,” says De Lang in an interview with supporters association Ajax Life.
Ajax suffered a historic and embarrassing cup defeat against the amateurs of Hercules (3-2) on Thursday. There is no doubt that the Amsterdam team will once again enter the transfer market in January to acquire the much-needed quality and experience.
The spearhead for the people of Amsterdam remains their own youth. “We then look at any former Ajax players who can be of added value again later in life,” says De Lang. Daley Blind opened the door to a future return this week, but the defender will not want to leave LaLiga revelation Girona in the middle of the season.
If no suitable ex-Ajax players are available in January, De Lang will look further. “Then there are the players from our partner clubs and of course players from outside. These can also be older players, leaders who make our young players better. We continue to look for the right balance.”
De Lang came to Ajax from Manchester City in May this year. The born Amsterdammer was brought in to set up a new scouting method. The dismissed director Mislintat prides himself on data scouting, and even has his own data agency, but De Lang clearly wants to put less emphasis on that.
“I am careful about magnifying data. Data is purely a strong filter at the front and a substantiation at the back. It has those two functions. Live scouting remains the most important to me.”
No.TeamMWGVP1PSV161600482Feyenoord161222383FC Twente161042344AZ161033335Ajax16745256Go Ahead Eagles16655237Sparta Rotterdam16646228NEC16565219sc Heerenveen166191910Fortuna Sittard16 5471911PEC Zwolle165381812Excelsior163851713FC Utrecht164571714Almere City FC164481615Heracles Almelo164391516RKC Waalwijk1642101417FC Volendam1632111118Vitesse16321111
2023-12-22 22:29:00
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