According to Mike Verweij, Kenneth Taylor has the potential to eventually serve as the successor to Ryan Gravenberch in the midfield of Ajax. However, the talent of the promise team, which is still in Amsterdam until mid-2024, seems to get few opportunities from Erik ten Hag. Also in the cup final against PSV he was not allowed to play minutes. Verweij therefore wonders about the patience of the nineteen-year-old midfielder.
The negotiations around Gravenberch seem to be at an impasse, as Ajax is sticking to 30 million euros and the interested Bayern Munich does not want to go further than 23 million. According to club watcher Mike Verweij van The Telegraph there is a good chance that Gravenberch will not leave for Germany and will also wear the Ajax shirt next season. Should an agreement still be reached, Ajax can set to work in the search for a replacement, because according to football chief Valentijn Driessen there is currently no one in the selection who can match Gravenberch’s level.
“Where a lot of routiniers don’t give home, he gives every game at home”, Driessen is in the podcast kick off full of praise for Gravenberch. “That could also be seen against PSV. This is a pearl. If you can pick it up for 20-25 million, that is a bargain for the European top. It will be worth much more. It has a very good head on it. Ajax is really going to miss him. If this boy also falls away, Ajax must strengthen himself very well. I see few boys who can take over this role from him. When I see Kudus fill in, so dutifully. He does not show that he should be there instead of Gravenberch. That really disappoints me.”
Driessen does not see a successor for Gravenberch in Klaassen either. “This seems to have taken the form of Everton, who did too little good on Sunday.” According to Verweij, Taylor has what it takes to strengthen Ajax’s midfield in the long run. “He has been making steps in training in recent weeks, you also hear that from other players. But he is far from Ryan Gravenberch. The big question is whether he is willing to wait a long time in Amsterdam or elsewhere. will have a look. In the cup final he also didn’t get any playing minutes.”
Gravenberch has always indicated that he does not want to leave Ajax for free, but now thinks it is time for the next step. “I can’t imagine that the commissioners are very happy with that”, Verweij refers to the ‘poker’ of Ajax with the 23 million offered. “It is always the player who decides. If he wants to go to Bayern, you have to try to get out of it.” According to Driessen, these are the ‘usual skirmishes’. “Thanks to Mike, among other things, there is only a lot on the street that normally does not come out about these kinds of negotiations and amounts that are or are not offered. It is new for the outside world that an intermediate position is continuously recorded.”