AFC Ajax: The Talent Goldmine

[Mike :]]

Some of you might remember a couple of my stories from FM14. I did one with Middlesbrough and then with Preston North End, where I had great success bringing youngsters into the first team and eventually winning the Premier League.

After not playing FM15 for a while due to my final year studies at university, I’ve been playing it quite a bit since graduating and have decided to make a story before the new game comes out in the near future.

The story will be with Ajax in the Eredivisie. I’ve been a big fan of the club for a number of years now and I am currently in the process of organising a trip out there to catch a game or two. I wrote this piece on De Toekomst a couple of years ago, and it’s time to try and create something similar on FM.

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AFC Ajax: The Talent Goldmine

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Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam. Historically, Ajax (named after the legendary Greek hero) is the most successful club in the Netherlands, with 33 Eredivisie titles and 18 KNVB Cups.

It has continuously played in the Eredivisie, the Dutch football top division, since its inception in 1956 and, along with PSV Eindhoven and Feyenoord, it is one of the country's "big three" clubs that have dominated that competition.

Ajax is historically one of the most successful clubs in the world; according to the IFFHS, Ajax were the seventh-most successful European club of the 20th century.

The club is one of the five teams that has earned the right to keep the European Cup and to wear a multiple-winner badge; they won consecutively in 1971–1973.

In 1972, they completed the continental treble by winning the Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup. Ajax's last international trophies were the 1995 Intercontinental Cup and the 1995 Champions League, where they defeated Milan in the final; they lost the 1996 Champions League final on penalties to Juventus.

Ajax is also one of three teams to win the continental treble and the Intercontinental Cup in the same season/calendar year; This was achieved in the 1971–72 season.

Ajax, Juventus, Bayern Munich, and Chelsea are the four clubs to have won all three major UEFA club competitions. They have also won the Intercontinental Cup twice, the 1991–92 UEFA Cup, as well as the Karl Rappan Cup, a predecessor of the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 1962.

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History

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As previously mentioned, Ajax are one of the most successful clubs in the world. They have amassed 33 Eredivisie titles, 18 Dutch Cups, 8 Dutch Super Cups, 4 European Champions Cups, 3 European Super Cups, 2 Intercontinetal Cups, 1 European Cup Winners Cup and 1 Euro Cup.

Their most successful spell as a club came in the 1990s’ when they won 5 Eredivisie titles, 3 Dutch Cups, 3 Dutch Super Cups, 1 European Champions Cup, 1 Euro Cup and 1 European Cup Winners Cup.

Hopefully I’ll be able to repeat the success of the 1990’s and bring some European success back to the Amsterdam Arena over the next few seasons.

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Facilities

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As you can see from the above screenshot, Ajax have some of the best facilities in the world so I don’t think I’ll ever have to upgrade them. The only problem I could see is that they are paying nearly £4million a year rent on the Amsterdam Arena, so it might be worth looking into purchasing in the future if I ever want to upgrade the stadium.

De Toekomst is perhaps the best youth academy in the world so I’m looking forward to seeing what talent is produced from there in the youth intake. The good thing about Ajax as well is that they attract decent youngsters from around the world so it will be interesting to see who I can bring in.

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Squad

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The squad is already well-balanced with players being able to play in a number of positions. At the moment, it doesn’t need to be heavily invested in due to the high standard of the squad already as well as the mix of young players that will be involved with the first team during the season.

I believe the following four players to be the spine of the team and the rest will be fit in around them:

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Jasper Cillessen

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Joel Veltman

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Davy Klaassen

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Arkadiusz Milik

The first team also has a number of top prospects which I’ll be looking to utilise throughout the season in the domestic cups and some of the league games. All three are in the first team already for a reason and they’ll probably be starters come 2015/16, especially Zivkovic.

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Kenny Tete – Defender

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Riechedly Bazoer – Midfielder

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Richairo Zivkovic - Forward

Other talents in the Jong Ajax and U19’s squads include the following:

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Markus Bay – Midfielder

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Donny van de Beek – Midfielder

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Abdelhak Nouri – Midfielder

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Robert Muric – Forward

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Vaclav Cerny – Forward

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Queensy Menig – Forward

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Transfer Policy

- Buy at least five players for the U19’s squad per season.
- Bring in a variety of players, mixed age, to increase talent of squad.
- Add experienced players to the squad to become tutors.
- Invest in at least one key player per season to make sure a high standard squad is maintained.

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Game Progress

2014/15 Season

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Thanks for reading the opening post! It was a bit long winded but I always believe you need a good introduction. For future updates, I’ll be doing the following:

Pre-Season
Mid-Season Update
Winter Transfer Window
Youth Intake
End of Season Review

Thanks again!​

 

[Disclaimer89]

Always a spot in my heart for Ajax stories! Did a Ajax save last season which was really enjoyable.

Bazoer turns out awesome, keep a hold of him

Good luck, will be following.

 

[Znik]

Have a long Ajax-save myself. Van De Beek and Bazoer turned out to become world beaters, and ofc Zivkovic did as well.

Best of luck to you, looking forward to following!

 

[Mike :]]

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Season One

Pre-Season

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Transfers

In

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Pione Sisto - £4.8m - FC Midtjylland

He was one of the first players recommended to me by my scouts so I immediately paid his release clause to ensure we could bring him in. He's a fantastic talent at such a young age and will be a key player for me this season. The only problem is that he wanted a release clause in his contract and wouldn't sign without one. This was set at £8.5m, so hopefully that can be removed in the near future!

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Sergi Samper - Loan - Barcelona

Although we have some good centre midfielders already, I couldn't resist to bring him in on loan when I knew he was available. The formation I will be playing needs centre midfielders than can pass and dominate games so he fits the ball perfectly, having learned from the best is Andres Iniesta and Xavi.

Out

No players left the club permanently or on loan. I feel the squad is balanced well enough now and if young players need experience, they'll go to Jong Ajax to play in the Jupiler League.

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Results

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They had already played their first fixture before I joined, but it was fairly standard after that except the 1-0 defeat in the third game. It came as a bit of a shock considering the Assistant Manager had played a full strength team. The main objective of pre-season is to gain fitness ahead of a tough campaign and that was achieved through the high standard of training.​

 

[Mike :]]

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Season One

Mid-Season Update

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League Table

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Results

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Wow, what a start to the league campaign! I thought it might be a bit harder than this, but the team has just completely blown away the opposition in each game! The standout results have to be the 7-0 win against FC Dordrecht, the 6-0 win over Willem II and the 7-1 victory against our rivals PSV at the Amsterdam Arena. I thought the latter would be an extremely close game due to both teams doing well in the league, but we outperformed them in every single area to pick up the three points. It would have been nice to win every game, but at least we're still unbeaten!

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Result

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It was a good game to start the season and one that I expected to win. Zwolle beat Ajax in the 2014 Dutch Cup final so it was sort of revenge for that defeat. I started Richairo Zivkovic ahead of Milik to give him some game time and he repaid my faith in him by grabbing the only goal of the game.

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Results

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A competition that Ajax should be winning without any problems. It's been a fairly easy ride so far with victories over an Amateur side, a Jupiler League side and a fellow Eredivisie side. The competition has allowed me to bleed some of the talented youngsters and they have performed extremely well to keep up their chances of progressing into the first team. Next up is a Quarter Final clash with Jupiler League side, and feeder club, Almere City.

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Group Stage

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Results

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I certainly didn't expect to progress into the First Knockout Round after seeing the draw back in August. I though that Chelsea would run away with the group, with Shahktar finishing second and I would settle for the Europa League. The results against Chelsea were superb and both had injury time equalisers for Ajax after coming from behind! The 4-4 draw was mad, I was 4-1 down with 10 minutes to go so I encouraged the team and changed tabs to do some work. I was delighted to check back five minutes later to see that we had drawn with them!

I was a bit worried about the First Round Knockout Draw due to the big boys being involved, but luckily we have been drawn against Swiss side Basel. Hopefully I'll be able to progress into the next round!

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News

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Pione Sisto's fantastic six months at Ajax were completed with the European Golden Boy award with UEFA recognising his performances. Hopefully teams don't come in for him in January!​

 

[Barca4ever11]

Amazing introduction,awesome results,but...i think it would be better if you do monthly updates,1-2 months/update. Anyway,your thread,not mine
Good luck,following too.

 

[Mike :]]

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Season One

Winter Transfer Window Update

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Transfers

In

None

Out

None

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Two bids came in for Vaclav Cerny from Chelsea and Atletico Madrid and both were swiftly rejected. They are nowhere near what we now value him at and he won't be sold for a long while yet. He still has plenty of time to develop into a world class wingers.

Future Transfers

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Danny Ings - End of Contract - Burnley

Milik has a £1.85 future transfer clause in his contract but wants nearly £40,000 a week so I decided to look elsewhere for a striker. I had a quick check on the contracts that were expiring in six months and found Ings available. After a few negotiations, I've managed to get him to sign a multi-year contract with Ajax and he will join in July for nothing. At this moment in time, he'll be my number one striker but that could change depending on Zivkovic's development over the next six months.

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Eugene Konoplyanka - End of Contract - Dnipro

A player that has been tracked by numerous big clubs, Eugene will be a fantastic addition to the squad and will be able to tutor the likes of Vaclav Cerny and Robert Muric. The ideal situation would be to have him for a season and then sell him for big money to allow Cerny or Muric to become the first choice winger, but we'll see how he progresses.

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League Table

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Results

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The Eredivisie has a winter break, which I'm extremely pleased about, so we only had three league games in January. I prepared for them by taking on three smaller reputation teams to increase match fitness and squad morale and it seemed to pay off. All three games were fairly standard victories and continue our unbeaten run in the league.

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Results

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We avoided a cup shock against our feeder side Almere City with an extra-time win, something that I was very disappointed with. Our saviour was Jong Ajax striker Queensy Menig, who came off the bench to grab the winner late on to avoid an embarrassing exit from the competition. Next up is a semi-final clash with Roda JC, a game I should be winning comfortably.

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News

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Perhaps the biggest news of the transfer window, Pione Sisto has signed a new deal with the club! The contract still runs until 2019, but he has had his wage doubled and a £35m release clause added instead of the previous £8.25m one. That way I'll be making a £30m profit on the transfer, rather than just a measly £4m - that's if he ever leaves!​

 

[AldoKemp-1]

Great start mate, How is Jong Ajax doing ? I have started a save/story with Fortuna Sittard & all the main teams youth squads are very poor!

 

[shasterix]

I like this style of updates, keep it up! Am reading

 

[randommonkey]

Keep up the great start!

 

[Mike :]]

Great start mate, How is Jong Ajax doing ? I have started a save/story with Fortuna Sittard & all the main teams youth squads are very poor!

They had a good start but faded away due to me moving players around when I needed them. I'm hoping they'll do well in a few years when I've improved the squad.

I like this style of updates, keep it up! Am reading

Cheers mate!

Keep up the great start!

Thanks for reading!

 

[Mike :]]

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Season One

Youth Intake

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Unfortunately, I forgot to take a screenshot of the squad when it was the youth intake day!

It wasn't the best youth intake, despite the facilities and youth coaching, and there was only one player that stood out for me.

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Gerben Knoop is the standout player and he looks like he'll be a very good player in the future. Although we have Robert Muric and Vaclav Cerny in the ranks, Gerben looks to be the most promising of the three and I'll be looking to utilise him where I can in the next few months.

He made his first team debut shortly after signing a contract before quickly returning to the U19's. He did set a new record though for youngest player to play for Ajax, beating the legend Clarence Seedorf's record!

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In addition to Knoop, I sent out scouts to pick up the best talent from around the world and managed to come across these two gems from the same team! I approached to sign them with their contract unprotected and easily agreed a compensation package for them to join in the future.

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News

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We've had some bad news on the injury front as our star striker Arkadiusz Milik has suffered a torn hamstring and will be out for three months, and therefore pretty much ruling him out for the season.

However, this gives Richairo Zivkovic a big chance to become our first choice striker and show me what he can do. He'll be our number one striker for now, with the likes of Queensy Menig, Vaclav Cerny and Robert Muric acting as the back up strikers ready to come off the bench if needed.​

 

[shasterix]

May I ask how did you set up your scouts to find those two German regens? My scout never find regens younger than the age of 16 even if I set it to only finding players of age 15.

 

[Barca4ever11]

Erm...your regen looks good,i would of give first-team minutes within 2 years.
Also,good Ex-Furth prospects.

 

[Average Joe]

Cerny becomes class mate!

 

[JamesScott2908]

Great story so far, Love the style updates!

 

[FunAsylum]

Knoop looks very good already!

 

[Mike :]]

May I ask how did you set up your scouts to find those two German regens? My scout never find regens younger than the age of 16 even if I set it to only finding players of age 15.

I've got quite a good world knowledge so send some of them out to watch youth competitions/cups. The striker came back as recommended so I had a look at the team he was from and found the other one as well.

Erm...your regen looks good,i would of give first-team minutes within 2 years.
Also,good Ex-Furth prospects.

Yeah, hopefully they'll be able to play some games when they link up with the squad in January and June 2016.

Cerny becomes class mate!

I'm looking forward to seeing how he develops. He's certainly impressed me so far!

Great story so far, Love the style updates!

Cheers mate, thanks for reading!

Knoop looks very good already!

Knoop has done well for me so far, he's back with the U19's now to get some regular game time and then I have to make a decision whether to promote him to Jong Ajax or not.

 

[Mike :]]

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Season One

End of Season Update

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Player of the Year
Lasse Schone
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Young Player of the Year
Pione Sisto

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Squad Stats

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Winners

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Player Stats

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Winners

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Quarter Finals

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Jong Ajax

16th

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Under 19's

2nd

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News

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After winning the league in March, the club moved quickly to extend my deal past June 2015 and awarded me with a three year contract. This will provide me with a sound footing as it will show players potentially coming in that the board trust me and are happy with my actions.

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Something that I didn't expect for a long while! I'm now 9th in the Dutch Hall of Fame after just one season winning the Eredivisie, the Dutch Cup and the Dutch Super Cup. I'm just behind the legendary Sir Bobby Robson, and quite a few behind Guus Hiddink.

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After only one defeat all season I thought I'd be a dead cert for winning Manager of the Year. However, I only came in third place behind Go Ahead Eagles' manager and sc Heerenveen's manager.

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Richairo Zivkovic was awarded the top goalscorer in the division after taking his chance following Milik's injury in February. It will certainly be a tough choice between him and Danny Ings next season! I was also surprised that Milik finished third after being ruled out for three months in the first game of February!

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As well as being my best young player of the season, Sisto was named the league's best young player with an average rating of 7.99 during the season. He dedicated the award to me as well which is always a nice tough haha! It was also good to see that all three slots for the award were filled by Ajax players.

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Jasper Cillessen was named as the Dutch Goalkeeper of the Year, beating FC Twente's Nick Marsman and sc Heerenveen's Kristoffer Nordfeidt to the award. He was excellent all year and was one of the main reasons why we conceded a small amount of goals.

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It was a double award for Cillessen as he was selected in the European Champions Cup Dream Team alongside some of the best players in the world. It was quite surprising considering we were knocked out in the Quarter Finals, especially as Iker Casillas was the goalkeeper that won the trophy!

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Queensy Menig has featured a number of times for the first team during the season and capped a good season off with being named runner-up in the Juplier League Top Goalscorer award.​

 

[Average Joe]

Queensy Menig ..... Poor bloke with that name!