Ajax tick all the boxes for the stars

Coetzee’s move case in point

RIVALDO Coetzee’s move to Glasgow Celtic is another feather in the cap of the Ajax Cape Town development structures that must rank as the best in the country given the number of players they have produced for the local and international market.

The Urban Warriors’ mandate as a club‚ handed down by 51% coowner Ajax Amsterdam‚ is to produce young players for the European market.

The Dispatch looks at some of the players they have developed who have gone on to play in Europe‚ mostly with success. STEVEN PIENAAR Played at: Ajax Amsterdam (Ned)‚ Borussia Dortmund (Ger)‚ Everton‚ Tottenham Hotspur‚ Sunderland (all Eng)

Ajax’s greatest export was their first‚ with Pienaar becoming a genuine star on the European scene‚ most notably in Amsterdam and at Everton.

He has since returned in the twilight of his career to play for Bidvest Wits this season. DAYLON CLAASEN Played at: Ajax Amsterdam (Ned)‚ Lierse (Bel)‚ Lech Poznan (Pol)‚ 1860 Munich (GER)

Claasen never quite hit the heights many had expected of him‚ but had a solid enough career in Europe that was at times disrupted through injury.

Like Pienaar‚ he is now back in South Africa at Wits but still potentially entering the prime of his career at the age of 27. THULANI SERERO Played at: Ajax Amsterdam‚ Vitesse Arnhem (both Ned)

Serero was for a time a key man at Amsterdam before the club’s policy of promoting youth meant that even at the age of 26 he was viewed as over the hill.

He can be proud of his achievements with the side over six seasons after joining in 2011.