Anass Salah-Eddine dreams of a future in Ajax 1. Young Ajax’s left back has recovered from a serious injury and could play against Almere City FC on Friday. He hopes to be at the start of a journey towards the first team and has the ambition to succeed Nicolás Tagliafico in the Johan Cruijff ArenA in the long term. At the moment, however, Salah-Eddine is mainly learning from Ajax 1’s left back.
“I want to work on my winning mentality,” says the nineteen-year-old wing defender on the Ajax website. “When you see Nico Tagliafico play, he is so fanatical. I also want to get that Argentinian girl more into my game. I see Nico play and then think: I want to be there. My dream is to be able to play in a full stadium, for the most beautiful club in the Netherlands while my family is sitting in the stands. That’s what I do it for. ”
“How I hope to be seen by fans? I hope they are positive and that they say: ‘Have you seen him’ and ‘Have you seen who is the successor of Nico?’. I would like that so much”, dreams Salah-Eddine, but realizes that he still has a long way to go before he qualifies for the first team. “I think I still have to take a few steps before I am ready for Ajax 1. I first have to score goals and give assists at Jong Ajax, being a decisive player there.”
Salah-Eddine injured the ankle in February 2020. In the summer, in preparation for the current season, disaster struck again. In an exhibition game with Almere City, the left leg got stuck in the grass, resulting in torn ankle ligaments and a broken fibula. In the winter he gradually rejoined the group training. He made his return on March 19 with a short substitute against MVV Maastricht (4-3 win) and also fell in against NEC last Friday (0-1 defeat), after extending his contract on that day until mid-2023.
Voetbalzone is the official media partner of the Kitchen Champion Division
Click here for exclusive interviews, talent scouts, current positions and the program on our Kitchen Champion Division page.
Related
More sports news