A familiar face returned to Ajax recently, as the club’s former winger Bertrand Traore joined the capital outfit as a free agent, with the Burkina Faso star signing a two-year deal.
OFFICIAL: Ajax have signed winger Bertrand Traoré on a two-year deal following the expiry of his contract at Villarreal. pic.twitter.com/tMuvxFOTr6
— Transfer News Central (@TransferNewsCen) July 18, 2024
Enjoyed a previous stint with the club
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Traore started his professional football career at Premier League Chelsea. However, he spent a season on loan at the Amsterdam club during his early football journey. The 2016/17 season saw the player make 24 appearances and score nine goals.
His performances were impressive for Ajax, and the club reportedly wanted him to stay longer than the initial loan spell. However, a longer deal never materialised.
The loan spell was not the first time he had spent time in Dutch football, though. He impressed in season 2014/15 at Vitesse Arnhem, scoring a highly respectable 16 goals in 46 appearances.
After his loan at Ajax ended, he made a €10 million (£8.8 million) move to French club Lyon, where he enjoyed the best form of his career, scoring 21 times in 87 appearances in three seasons.
Next was a four-year spell in the Premier League with Aston Villa. After a promising first season in the Midlands, finding the net seven times, the winger struggled for game time, form and goals.
In season 2022/23, Villa loaned Traore to the Turkish club Istanbul Basaksehir, where he didn’t exactly set the world alight, with just two goals in 12 appearances.
Traore moved to Spanish outfit Villarreal in February 2024 as a free agent, signing for the Yellow Submarine until the summer. A record of just one goal in 11 appearances for the Spanish club was not enough to convince them to extend Traore’s contract, and he was released.
Traore signing is the first step to Ajax reshaping their squad
Traore is the first summer signing for the Amsterdam club as new head coach Francesco Farioli looks to reshape a squad that experienced a woeful Eredivisie campaign in season 2023/24.
Francisco Conceicao, Jorge Sanchez and Georges Mikautadze have left the club. However, none of the trio are considered first-team regulars. In fact, all three had loan spells away from the Amsterdam club in season 2023/24 before sealing permanent exits this summer.
Although Ajax will be hoping to strengthen their squad by bringing in new arrivals this summer, they will be keen to avoid what happened last summer. Not many of their signings were major hits after the club laid off a decent amount of money in a bid to strengthen their squad.
Signing Traore, though, seems to be a no-brainer. He is a player who didn’t cost a transfer fee, has experience at the highest level of football, and, at just 28 years of age, is still in his prime.
After a difficult couple of years in his career, joining Ajax may be just what the winger needs to revive his floundering career.
For the club, there is very little risk, as the fact he arrived for no fee means that they have very little invested in the player, apart from wages, if things don’t work out in Amsterdam.
Young goalkeeper set for a return to England
As Traore joins Ajax, according to the London Evening Standard, highly-rated young goalkeeper Tommy Setford is set to join Premier League Arsenal for a fee of around €1m (£840,000).
The Gunners look set to grab themselves a bargain because Setford’s contract expires in the summer of 2025. Reportedly, the youngster still must agree on personal terms and have a medical.
However, it seems unlikely that either will prevent him from completing a move to north London. Setford is expected to sign a four-year deal with the Gunners.
The 18-year-old is the brother of another promising young Ajax goalkeeper Charlie. Both players were born in the Netherlands. However, their dad is English professional golfer Chris Setford, who has settled in the country due to his professional commitments.
Setford is an England under-20 international and is considered one of the best young up-and-coming goalkeepers in his age range. The youngster has played 50 times in various youth leagues and cups and kept 19 clean sheets.
Losing Setford for such a low fee is undoubtedly a blow for Ajax, as they have built their success over the years on player trading. If Setford fulfils his potential during his career, then he will likely be worth big money, with the Dutch club missing out on a potential hefty cash windfall.
Will Bertrand Traore be successful at Ajax in his second spell at the club?