Mohamed Daramy is the desired offensive reinforcement that coach Erik ten Hag can add to the Ajax selection. On Sunday, the team from Amsterdam reported that an agreement has been reached with FC Copenhagen on a transfer fee of twelve million euros, an amount that can rise to a maximum of thirteen million euros through variables. With the nineteen-year-old Daramy, Ajax is bringing in a multifunctional attacker, who was also in the explicit interest of Club Brugge.
Despite the presence of Dusan Tadic, Sébastien Haller, Danilo Pereira, David Neres, Antony and Steven Berghuis, Ten Hag informed director of football affairs Marc Overmars that he would like an extra attacker. “We are looking for a player with speed, who has the ability to play as a striker and from the left wing,” said the coach in preparation for this season in conversation with Football International. The arrows were fully aimed at Kamaldeen Sulemana. An agreement was reached with FC Nordsjaelland and it seemed a matter of time before he would be presented in the Johan Cruijff ArenA. Because Ten Hag could not guarantee him a basic place, Sulemana remained in doubt about a move to Amsterdam. When he again asked for extra time to think about it, Ajax pulled the plug on the deal. The message was clear: Ajax does not pay sixteen million euros for a doubter.
Ajax has Daramy on the radar: ‘Transfers difficult, the market is limited’
Overmars switched on. Steven Bergwijn was linked to Ajax by various media and even Ten Hag indicated that the attacker of Tottenham Hotspur fits well in the outlined profile. The the Dutch international had had a lean season in the Premier League and was reportedly open to a return to Ajax, the club where he played in youth. It would not come to that, as it turned out on Sunday afternoon. While Ten Hag’s team gave up a 0-1 lead on a visit to FC Twente, FC Copenhagen confirmed through the official channels that negotiations were underway with Ajax about Daramy. Hours later Ajax confirmed the agreement with the Danish top club, while late in the evening The Telegraph revealed that Daramy is also settled with his new employer. The attacker, who turns out to be the third choice after Sulemana and Bergwijn, signs for five years in Amsterdam.
Daramy, born and raised in the Danish Hvidovre near Copenhagen, is a son of parents from Sierra Leone. At the age of sixteen he made the decision to go for an international career in the shirt of Denmark. At the time, people were already convinced that the attacker would go far. It has not yet come to a debut in the national team, but the nineteen-year-old attacker can call himself a youth international. Earlier this year, he played with Young Denmark at the European Under-21 Championship, where Germany was too strong in the quarterfinals. As a top talent from Copenhagen, Daramy has been followed for years by various European top clubs. In the past, he has been associated with clubs such as Borussia Dortmund, Bayer Leverkusen, Red Bull Salzburg, AC Milan, Celtic, Sevilla, and Liverpool. Last year his name came up in the German media, as he was reportedly a candidate to succeed Timo Werner who left Chelsea at RB Leipzig.
With Daramy Ajax removes an absolute eye-catcher from the Danish competition. He was not Ajax’s first choice, but according to Ole Tobiasen that means nothing. “I think he is even better than Sulemana in the one against one,” the former defender of Ajax and FC Copenhagen, among others, told the newspaper. General Newspaper over the right-footed winger, who is usually placed on the left wing. Where Daramy is an unknown name in the Netherlands, according to Tobiasen he is seen in his own country as ‘Denmark’s greatest talent’. He describes him as a creative winger who also plays his part defensively. Sören Lerby is also impressed by the qualities of the Ajax purchase. “Daramy is lightning fast. He’s just very young though. Whether he will succeed must of course always be clear, but I do understand that Ajax has come to him”, the former Ajax player told the same newspaper.
Daramy joined the Copenhagen youth academy at the age of fourteen, became the top scorer in the Under-17s a year later and was sixteen years old when he made his debut in the main squad. On his debut in the cup tournament against Viby IF he was immediately accurate; at 16 years and 263 days, he became the youngest ever goalscorer for Copenhagen. Daramy made his league debut in December 2018. The counter of the attacker, who plays for the Denmark Under-21, stands at 17 goals and 10 assists in 91 official matches, of which he started 51 from the starting line. His numbers aren’t impressive and that may be the reason he wasn’t bought out sooner. In his first two full seasons, he only scored four and five league goals respectively. This season he scored twice in six league matches. Although his statistics are not particularly convincing, Ajax is nevertheless convinced of his footballing qualities.
Daramy is a winger who can also handle the point of the attack. On the left flank he has captain Dusan Tadic in front of him at Ajax. However, the Serbian attacker regularly plays in the point of attack in a European context. Ten Hag can then fill in his position with Daramy. The Danish youth international cannot be compared with Tadic with his playing style. The purchase has more speed, is a diligent dribbler and has more depth to his game. It is the latter quality in particular that Ten Hag hoped to add to his selection. Since the start of last season, the purchase of a maximum of thirteen million euros has resulted in 91 successful dribbles (conversion rate of 58 percent). Only one player managed to score more successful dribbles in the Danish league: Sulemana (133). However, the latter has a lower success rate than Daramy: 58 to 50 percent. Daramy no longer needs to learn dribbling at Ajax, but scoring goals does. Since the start of the 2020/21 season, Daramy is in 32nd place based on Expected Goals: 44 shots yielded 8 goals.
Nobody expected that Daramy will be an Ajax player at the end of this week two weeks ago. Club Brugge worked hard in the background on the arrival of the attacker and even reached an agreement with Copenhagen on a transfer fee of thirteen million euros. The player himself saw a move to Bruges and so it seemed a matter of time before he would become a teammate of Noa Lang, Bas Dost and Ruud Vormer. When Ajax came into the picture, Daramy changed his mind. Years ago, the team from Amsterdam was in the same position as the Belgian top club. In 2017 Ajax almost had Richarlison. Watford got involved in the battle and Ajax had no chance. The interest of Club Brugge does mean that Ajax has to dig deep into the pockets for a player whose market value is due to Transfermarkt is estimated at four million euros. After Overmars grabbed next to Sulemana and Bergwijn is a much more expensive and perhaps unfeasible option, the director of football affairs had no problems spending at least twelve million euros on the Danish growth brilliant. Never before has Copenhagen sold a player for such a high amount. Daramy replaces Denis Vavro as the most expensive selling Copenhagen player ever. The Slovak made the switch to Lazio in 2019 for an amount of 10.5 million euros.
From FC København’s game today when Mohamed Daramy was substituted. ?? Mo Daramy ??#transferdk #transfers #sldk #fcklive #Ajax pic.twitter.com/WSmsKlGJnD
— Danish Football (@DanishFootball0) August 22, 2021
“We have spoken to Club and heard what they are doing,” said Daramy in the Danish press on Sunday evening. “I do not want to deny that they have prepared a good plan for me, which I was happy with. But then Ajax made a better offer. We know that the club (Copenhagen, ed.) likes to see a high transfer fee. It will be a big one. step. Ajax is a big club with many good players, it is a club that continuously picks up new talents.” While his club and representatives were busy on Sunday to complete a transfer to Ajax, Daramy just came into action in the Danish competition. Just before time, after providing the assist to Jonas Wind’s 2-0, Daramy got a crowd change. Accompanied by a standing ovation, Daramy left the field. Next Thursday, the Copenhagen supporters can enjoy him one last time in the Conference League against Sivasspor. Jess Thorup’s team won 1-2 in Turkey last Thursday. Ajax does not confirm those details about the agreement in the press release, but the agreement is confirmed by The Telegraph. The arrival of Daramy will therefore be communicated on Friday at the earliest.