Van der Sar: 'Developing talents like De Ligt is our lifeline'

Van der Sar: 'Developing talents like De Ligt is our lifeline'
2019-15-07 - 17:45
Ajax CEO Edwin van der Sar believes that developing talents like Matthijs de Ligt is the club's lifeline.

De Ligt is now set for a move to Juventus and has already agreed personal terms with the club. Ajax and Juve are also close to agreeing a fee for the defender.

Van der Sar recently gave an interview on the ECA official website and said: " It is our lifeline. Generally, part of the history of our country. We are a small dot on this planet, so we must be innovative and creative. We have a country with many kids playing soccer, in one well-organized structure, there is so much talent around and we want to have these kids on board as soon as possible.

"Ajax's goal is to develop these talents to become champions like Cruijff, Bergkamp, Seedorf and recently De Jong and De Ligt. Ajax is partly dependent on players from youth teams. When you don't have the opportunity to buy established stars, you have to be awake and make sure you get to the top differently. So we work hard to help players improve. The goal is the same for everyone: prepare them for the first team, preferably with an international status."