Ajax is a club that is famous for producing quality young players who have become some of the best in the world in their positions. Some young players stays at the club from the Dutch capital are relatively short before they move on to other European giants.
However, some players have a significant impact before they move to new pastures. Who are the youngest players to score for the Amsterdam giants, though?
Ryan Gravenberch (16 years, 04 months and ten days against HVV Te Werve)
The midfielder was just 16 years, 04 months and ten days when he scored in a 7-0 trouncing of lower league HVV Te Werve in the KNVB Beker in September 2018.
The midfielder made 103 appearances for the Dutch giants before a move to Bavarian behemoths Bayern Munich in 2022. However, he was with Bayern for just over a year before completing a big-money move to Liverpool in September 2023.
Naci Unuvar (16 years, 07 months and 09 days against SV Spakenburg)
The attacking midfielder scored his goal in a 7-0 home win over SC Spakenburg in the KNVB Beker. The goal was the only one the Turkish-born star has scored for the Amsterdam giants, as he has made just three senior games for the team from the country’s capital.
Unuvar is still contracted to Ajax at the time of writing but had loan spells at FC Twente in the 2022/23 season and Trabzonspor in the 2023/24 season.
Clarence Seedorf (16 years, 11 months and 24 days against Vitesse Arnhem)
The midfielder, who went on to achieve great things in the European game, opened his scoring account in a 2-2 league encounter with Vitesse Arnhem in 1993.
Seedorf spent three seasons in the senior Ajax squad, making 90 appearances and scoring 11 goals. He was part of the Ajax team that won not only the Champions League in 1995 but also the Eredivisie on two occasions.
The former Dutch international also played for Real Madrid, Inter and arch-rivals Milan, the latter with whom he won the Champions League twice. He also won European football’s elite competition with Real Madrid in 1998.
His trophy haul makes Seedorf one of the most decorated Dutch players of the game’s modern era.
Nordin Wooter (17 years and 04 days against RKC Waalwijk)
The right winger scored his maiden goal for Ajax in a 3-1 home league win over RKC Waalwijk at the age of just 17 years and four days in 1994.
Like Seedorf, Wooter’s Ajax career was pretty short after coming through the youth ranks at the club. He spent just three seasons with the club from 1994 until 1997.
However, Wooter made history in the semi-finals of the Champions League in April 1996, as he became the first teenager to score in the last four of the competition in a victory over Panathinaikos.
Ironically, Wooter later played for the Greek team for two seasons from 2004-2006.
Matthijs de Ligt (17 years, 01 month and 09 days against Willem ll)
The centre-back scored his first Ajax goal in a 5-0 KNVB Beker drubbing of Willem ll in September 2016.
After coming through the club’s academy, De Ligt established a considerable reputation in his three years in the Ajax first team. After 117 appearances for Ajax, he moved to Italian giants Juventus in 2019.
The Netherlands international then spent three seasons with the Bianconeri before another big-money move to Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022.
Gerald Vanenburg (17 years, 02 months and 05 days against MVV Maastricht)
The winger was just 17 years, two months, and five days when he scored in a 6-1 home Eredivisie win over MVV Maastricht in May 1981.
The Utrecht-born star enjoyed six seasons with Ajax from 1980 until 1986, making 173 appearances and scoring 64 goals in all competitions for the club.
During his Ajax career, he won the Eredivisie on three occasions. He moved to rival PSV Eindhoven in 1986, where he won the Dutch title five times in seven seasons and the European Cup in 1988.
Johan Engelsma (17 years, 02 months and 21 days against JOS Watergraafsmeer)
The forward scored his goal in a 2-1 home win over JOS in the KNVB Beker in April 1959. His goal came in his only senior first-team appearance for the club from the Dutch capital.
He later went on to play for the likes of HFC EDO Haarlem, Velox and ASC De Volewijckers. At international level, Engelsma featured for the Netherlands under-18 team on five occasions, scoring three goals. However, that was as good as it got for the forward at international level.
Do you remember any of the goals talked about in our article?