Tolu Arokodare has scored 10 goals in 15 matches for Ajax this season. His rival for the starting striker job, Marcos Leonardo, has scored two in 14. The 10-to-2 split sits at the center of a striker surplus that Ajax technical director Jordi Cruijff will have to untangle after the season ends — a decision that could force one or more forwards out of the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
Ajax entered the 2026/27 campaign with more strikers than it needed and has spent the summer trimming the ranks, but the congestion remains. Several forwards departed permanently in the summer transfer window — to FC Twente, Ipswich Town and SC Cambuur — while others left on loan to Lommel SK and were parked at FC Andorra, according to FootballTransfers.com. Even so, the club’s two squads, Ajax 1 and Jong Ajax, still carry more options in attack than the coaching staff can field.
Arokodare’s 10 goals and a purchase option already arranged
The Nigerian striker, 23, joined Ajax on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers, with the move announced on July 29, Ajax Showtime reported. In 15 appearances he has added three assists to his 10 goals, per FootballTransfers.com. Ajax holds a purchase option reported at roughly €20 million, and Cruijff said on the Rondo program on Ziggo Sport that exercising it would require no further negotiation: everything, including the salary, is already arranged. Asked whether making the transfer permanent would be impossible for the club, Cruijff answered, “I don’t think so,” according to Voetbal International and FCUpdate.nl.
Cruijff defended the signing against criticism that Arokodare came from a relegated club. “He came in well, has a good mentality, is a team player,” Cruijff said, per FCUpdate.nl. “Strikers have ups and downs. We hope he just continues like this.”
Leonardo’s €19.9 million gamble stalling at two goals
The contrast with Leonardo is stark. Ajax paid a reported €19.9 million to Al-Hilal of Saudi Arabia to sign the 23-year-old Brazilian, FootballTransfers.com reported. In 14 matches he has managed two goals and no assists, and he has not yet found the net consistently in Amsterdam.
Cruijff nonetheless backed the purchase, telling Rondo it is “a matter of time,” Voetbal International reported. He pointed to Leonardo’s record — more than 290 official matches and roughly 125 goals by age 23, close to one goal every two games, accumulated in Portugal and Saudi Arabia — and said that once Leonardo scores, “he’ll loosen up.” On the physical demands of Dutch football, Cruijff said the Eredivisie involves far more one-on-one duels than most leagues, which is more physically demanding, and that Leonardo “needs some time to get used to it,” Ajax Showtime reported.
Cruijff also addressed the missed penalty by Davy Klaassen against FC Groningen that many felt should have gone to Leonardo. The score was 0-0, he said, and “you have agreements and you have to follow them.” He added that when the score reaches 0-2 or 0-3, the match is decided and a player can take a penalty for confidence — “he needs to take steps and loosen up,” per Ajax Showtime.
Dolberg’s season-ending knee injury removes another option
Another striker, Kasper Dolberg, was meant to leave this summer, FootballTransfers.com reported. Cruijff had wanted to sell the Danish forward after he disappointed following his return to Amsterdam in summer 2025, but no transfer materialized. Dolberg then suffered a serious knee injury and will miss the rest of the 2026/27 season, leaving Ajax without him while the club still considers a renewed move for him in the future.
Jong Ajax carries its own striker congestion
The overcrowding extends to the club’s second team. Jong Ajax coach Carlos García has three strikers available: Emre Ünüvar and Paulo Da Silva were already in the Amsterdam setup, and Cruijff added Diego Pugno, a 20-year-old Italian on loan from Juventus for the 2026/27 season, FootballTransfers.com reported. Pugno has five goals and two assists in 10 matches and has already been called up to the first team by head coach Míchel Sánchez multiple times. Ajax can sign him permanently.
Jordi Cruijff springt in de bres voor Marcos Leonardo 🇧🇷🗣️ 🔗 https://t.co/zHeixcQ4Ln pic.twitter.com/9EdWWwOsaI
Speculation about departures at Jong Ajax centers on Da Silva, who has played just 17 minutes across three appearances and is barely in the plans, per FootballTransfers.com. Meanwhile, two more Ajax strikers — Don-Angelo Konadu and Julian Rijkhoff — are out on loan with purchase options attached. If they return to Amsterdam, FootballTransfers.com reported, the likelihood is high that the club will look for another club for them.
Cruijff faces a busy summer of decisions
At the end of the season, Cruijff must decide how to fill the striker positions at both squads, factoring in the loaned players and the two loanees with purchase options. FootballTransfers.com reported that there appears to be no reason not to exercise the options on Arokodare and Pugno for now — but doing so would mean other players must leave. Cruijff brought 12 players to Ajax over the summer, and he told Rondo the search for quality and balance succeeded: “We had to be creative and looked for experience and leadership, for example in the spine,” Voetbal International reported.
The open question is whether Leonardo can find the form Cruijff insists is coming. Until he scores, the 10-to-2 split will keep defining an Ajax attack that has more options than it can use — and a technical director who will have to choose which of them stays.
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