Ajax director Edwin van der Sar explains how much they invest in the youth academy and why Brian Brobbey has been chosen to debut against Atalanta.
It kicks off at 17.55 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
La Dea can qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 with a point in Amsterdam, having drawn 2-2 in Bergamo last time.
Ajax director Edwin van der Sar explains how much they invest in the youth academy and why Brian Brobbey has been chosen to debut against Atalanta.
It kicks off at 17.55 GMT, click here for the line-ups and LIVEBLOG.
La Dea can qualify for the Champions League Round of 16 with a point in Amsterdam, having drawn 2-2 in Bergamo last time.
“We scored two goals in Bergamo, then didn’t defend well and gave away two cheap goals and in my view also two points,” the former Juventus goalkeeper told Sky Sport Italia, surprisingly still in very good Italian.
There is the first senior start for 18-year-old youth product Brian Brobbey, who has been called the ‘new Romelu Lukaku.’
“It’s the usual story at Ajax, as a club we have a big name, a lot of great history, but not the finances of clubs in Italy, Spain or England. We have to work hard in our youth academy, give these lads a chance in the first team and let them play.
“He’s a big striker, quick, and we hope he can score a goal.”
Is Brobbey going to be another in the very long line of Dutch talents formed in the Ajax academy?
“We always say we don’t buy world class players, we grow them. So after Matthijs de Ligt, Donny van de Beek, Frenkie de Jong, we have two or three players of a top level, but at a certain stage for their good as well as ours, they go on to bigger clubs and bigger leagues.
“We spend €11-12m per year on the youth academy. It’s a lot of money for us, but even 30-40 years after Marco van Basten and Frank Rijkaard, we keep churning out the talents.”