The list of players to have been produced by Ajax that have gone on to achieve great things is huge, so you always been an eye on the club and wonder where the next star will come from.
Well, the latest through the production line that has got tongues wagging, and is reportedly attracting interest from both Chelsea and Manchester City is young Danish forward Kasper Dolberg.
He was spotted in Denmark by Danish scout John Steen Olsen just two years ago as a 17-year-old. Olsen is the same scout that helped Ajax to sign the likes of Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Christian Eriksen and Victor Fisher.
Last week he made his full International debut and followed that up this weekend when he scored his first senior hat-trick, with one of the goals an outrageous header. And talk of his quality is growing by the day. But the Premier League had a mixed history with signing players from the Eredivisie, so is Dolberg the real deal?
Style wise, Dolberg is an all round striker. He is tall and can come short to play as a target man given his size and control at close quarters, able to hold defenders off and turn them on occasion. What is most impressive is that he also has pace and the ability to stretch the opposition defence. Numerous times this season he has been played through on goal and raced in behind the opposition defence, or scored by using his acceleration to dart across a defender in the box.
But as a striker, all of that would be useless unless he was good in front of goal, and boy can this lad finish. He has a thunderbolt of a right foot and is capable of testing the keeper from range as well as finishing at close quarters. As seen by a few of his goals so far this season, he has a good variety to his finishing and he is just as capable of a deft touch to find the back of the net.
And given his height, he is equally as capable in the air, having won 56% of his aerial duels so far this season. Perhaps that has room for improvement but he still needs to grow into men’s football.
This may all sound too good to be true, but some people have named Dolberg the ‘New Zlatan’. Often these comparisons don’t end well, but Dolberg looks like a player that is capable of living up to the hype.
One area of weakness that Dolberg should look to work on is his passing, and he has quite a low passing accuracy for this Ajax side. But if you want to improve your ball retention, he is at the right place to learn. It is also worth noting that he isn’t a product of the Ajax academy, so still has a lot to learn.
The one thing that he must consider is whether he wants to move so soon into his development. Ajax looks like a great place to develop as a footballer, and he should be in no rush.