Chuba Akpom expresses a lot of confidence in his coach Francesco Farioli after the last practice match of the season, against Olympiacos (1-0 win). The words of the Ajax striker also say a lot about how he thinks about the previous coaches he met in Amsterdam.

Akpom played ninety minutes against the Greek top club on Friday. After the match he will receive Ziggo Sport the question of what is different at Ajax than last year. “Now we have a philosophy, a system, a way of playing that we train very intensively, so…”

Youri Mulder, who is present as an analyst, wants to know if Akpom will get a different role. “Yes, definitely. I am involved in the game, that is why you see me sink a bit deeper into midfield. The wingers create depth on the side with their runs.”

Akpom is starting his second season at Ajax. The attacker was never a regular last season, but scored a respectable fifteen goals as a substitute. “That's fine, but of course we don't do it for individual performances. Unfortunately, our team performance wasn't good.”

Mulder asks whether Akpom will start in the Europa League preliminary round against Vojvodina on Thursday. “I have no idea”, says Akpom. “Yes, they really have to put you in”, says Mulder. “Thank you, I appreciate that”, responds the Ajax striker, who will probably play given the absence of Brian Brobbey and Steven Bergwijn. The latter two will return to Ajax later because of their participation in the European Championship.

It is questionable whether Akpom will still be under contract with Ajax after August 31. “As long as I play for Ajax, I will give one hundred percent, but we will evaluate in the coming weeks what my future will be. Ajax is a great club. I don't think many players would want to leave Ajax, but you also have to think about what is best for yourself.”

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