FINAL I tip Ajax to take Jose to cleaners

HONG KONG is a city that never sleeps.

So at 3am tomorrow morning, half the Tottenham squad aim to be huddled round a screen in the belief that Ajax have what it takes to beat Jose Mourinho’s Manchester United.

Central among them will be Jan Vertonghen, Toby Alderweireld and Christian Eriksen, who were all part of the same Ajax team that won the Dutch title in 2011, before the club had to reinvent itself – yet again.

Because the incredible thing about the 11 players who will walk out at the Friends Arena in Stockholm to contest a major European final is they are just the ones who so far have not been cherry-picked by the biggest clubs on the Continent.

Indeed, it does not take long to put together an impressive list of Ajax alumni that would give any team a run for its money. “That team could do some damage,” said Vertonghen proudly, scrutinising the back of his metaphorical fag packet.

“They could win some trophies. I’d be happy to play in this team. And that’s without the other guys who are still at the club.”

Belgium defender Vertonghen, in the Far East with Spurs as part of their post-season tour, has continued to monitor the team he joined as a 16-year-old and where, as their captain, he became Dutch player of the year in 2012.

“I am still in touch with people at Ajax,” he said. “I played with a couple who

are still

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there and I am in touch mainly with Daley Blind – who is on the other side in the final. A couple of guys who started at Ajax keep in touch, and I have a lot of friends in Amsterdam who are talking a lot about this.

“I’ll try to watch it. I might even still be awake with jet-lag! Obviously, we have Christian and Toby, then Michel Vorm and Vincent Janssen who are on the Dutch side. A lot of the English guys will also want to watch. There will be at least 10.”

Spurs also have an impressive recent track record of developing homegrown talent but for all the millions ploughed into the new academy, they cannot touch what Ajax have achieved.

Vertonghen is at a loss to put into words how the Dutch club have been so successful over the years. “To understand, you have to go there and see The Future,” he said. “That is literally what they call the academy.

“If you see the way they work and the spirit they have, you understand how so many guys eventually make it into the first team. It is an example for 99 per cent of the clubs in the world how to do it. I think they will keep doing it for 100 more years.”

Tonight, though, is about the here and now. And with 19-year-old Kasper Dolberg showing the qualities of a young Eriksen, Vertonghen is confident Ajax boss Peter Bosz has the tools to beat United. “The manager has brought a great spirit into the club and has made them believe they can win,” said

Vertonghen. “And they can.”