Maurice Steijn named a number of former Ajax stars he would love to have at the club now, including Manchester United outcast Donny van de Beek.
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The Dutch giants are going through an awful start to the season, winning just one of their opening six Eredivisie games and sitting 16th in the table.
Steijn joined from Sparta Rotterdam in the summer and is struggling badly, falling to a second successive home defeat on Sunday, beaten 2-1 by AZ Alkmaar.
After the defeat the 49-year-old hit out at the quality of players available to him at Ajax, bemoaning the fact that many big names have left in recent years, including Van de Beek.
‘I look at the teenagers who can offer more than the players on the bench,’ said Steijn. ‘(Some of our senior players) Are not yet able to bring it in training and during substitute appearances.
‘No, I haven’t written them off. But I make different choices based on what I see in training and what I think the team needs.
‘Of course, this team would benefit incredibly from experienced players, such as Matthijs de Ligt, Frenkie de Jong, Donny van de Beek. Daley Blind and Dusan Tadic also excelled. We don’t have those guys, and that is a disadvantage for the team.’
Van de Beek has made two brief substitute appearances for Manchester United this season, once in the Premier League and another in the League Cup.
The 26-year-old was available for transfer over the summer but there appears to have been no interest in his services after an entirely forgettable time with the Red Devils.
The Netherlands international signed from Ajax in 2020 for an initial £35m but has never been able to hold down a place in the first team, making just 62 appearances for the club, scoring twice.
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