Ajax trained on Thursday in the run-up to Saturday’s home match against PEC Zwolle. For Kasper Dolberg and James McConnell it was a session with a special touch. The new signings were on the training pitch with the group for the first time.
Dolberg was signed from Anderlecht on the final day of the transfer window last week. The Dane thus returns to his old nest and is now embarking on his second Ajax spell. McConnell was secured on loan a few days earlier. The midfielder comes from Liverpool.
The training ended with a fine finishing exercise, which produced plenty of beautiful goals and smart saves.
With a pretext, Sjaak Swart was recently lured to the Royal Theatre Carré. In the majestic cultural temple, Mister Ajax was met with a huge surprise. To mark his 75th anniversary as an Ajacied, none other than Youp van ’t Hek treated the lifelong Ajax man to a unique performance: an intimate one-man show, written especially for Swart (87), who has been a member of Ajax since September 11, 1950.
With FC26 just around the corner, the new ratings for the Ajax squad have been revealed. Youri Baas, Owen Wijndal, Mika Godts and Jorthy Mokio, guided by host Hein, go head-to-head as they try to guess both their own ratings and those of their teammates in FC26.
Kasper Dolberg is an Ajacied once again. Following the international break with Denmark, the striker travelled to Amsterdam to report to his (new) teammates. The Ajax player left six years ago as a 21-year-old boy and now returns at the age of 27 as a man. "You grow as a person, and I have a bit more self-confidence."