The 20 Netherlands youngsters with the most potential

Martin Macdonald

20 Apr 2022 15:21 BST
4 min read

Ryan Gravenberch, Ajax, 2021/22 — © ProShots

Dutch football is famed for consistently producing some of the best young footballers in the world.

Ajax, in particular, have a youth system that is among the best of any club at elite level, and this is reflected on the number of wonderkids that have come through the ranks in Amsterdam over the years.

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From Johan Cruyff to the likes of Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar, Patrick Kluivert, Clarence Seedorf and Frank Rijkaard, young players have flourished at Ajax and went on to become global names.

At the moment, Ryan Gravenberch is the Netherlands player at the age of 21 or younger with the most potential according to SciSports.

It seems the 19-year-old is destined for superstardom and is already a starting member of the first-team squad at Ajax despite his young age.

An all-round midfield maestro, the Dutchman has the physicality to excel in any league in the world, with a wonderful command of possession, too.

He has been strongly linked with a move to Bayern Munich in the summer, though Barcelona and Manchester United are also extremely interested in a deal.

The second Dutchman on our list is another Ajax youngster in Jurrien Timber. A centre-back, he has flourished under the tutelage of Erik ten Hag and has been tipped to join his current manager at Man Utd should he take over at Old Trafford.

We go to the Bundesliga for number three and Leverkusen's Jeremie Frimpong. the right-back came onto the map at Celtic before moving to Germany just over a year ago, and he has continued his development superbly. With pace to burn, he is a major threat going forward on the flank.

Funnily enough, our number four is also a Leverkusen player - Mitchel Bakker. He plays on the opposite wing to Frimpong.

Rounding out the top five is Myron Boadu. He is yet to light things up at Monaco since his summer move, but the potential is still there.

Name	Parent Club	Potential SciSports Skill
1. Ryan Gravenberch	Ajax	145.6
2. Jurrien Timber	Ajax	130.5
3. Jeremie Frimpong	Leverkusen	122.3
4. Mitchel Bakker	Leverkusen	121.9
5. Myron Boadu	Monaco	116.0
6. Devyne Rensch	Ajax	110.8
7. Sepp van den Berg	Liverpool	110.0
8. Ian Maatsen	Chelsea	109.6
9. Mikki van Sas	Man City	106.9
10. Youri Regeer	Ajax	103.1
11. Mohamed Ihattaren	Juventus	101.8
12. Lamare Bogarde	Aston Villa	100.3
13. Neraysho Kasanwirjo	Groningen	98.4
14. Mohamed Sankoh	Stuttgart	98.2
15. Daan Huisman	Vitesse	96.2
16. Sil Swinkels	Aston Villa	95.3
17. Jayden Oosterwolde	Twente	93.8
18. Bart van Rooij	NEC	93.8
19. Joshua Zirkzee	Bayern	93.6
20. Naci Unuvar	Ajax	93.3

How is the SciSkill ranking calculated?

SciSports explains how our development ratings are gathered:

“Among others, a positive development could be boosted by more playing time, playing time on a higher level or better performances on the pitch.

“A negative development could be due to the player being active on a lower level than he used to play, bad performances or the fact that he does not play that often as he used to do.

“A SciSkill Development of 0.0 could indicate that a player is performing exactly like our algorithm expects him to do. Another reason could be inactivity (e.g. a long-term injury or suspension).”