Any footballer looking to make a success of his time at Ajax needs to possess a specific set of skills. Extreme technique, precise ball control, and the ability to pick even the tightest of locks in a league where the Eredivisie champions tend to come up against packed defences week-in, week-out.
In that sense, if you asked a fleet of world-leading scientists to design a winger tailor-made for Ajax, the initial prototype would have looked something a little like Antony; the Brazil international who terrorised Dutch defenders before his £86 million move to Manchester United.
But as for Antony’s Johan Cruyff Arena replacement? Well, the fact that Lucas Ocampos returns to Sevilla after one start and 99 Eredivisie minutes tells it’s own story. If Antony was an expert lock-picker, then signing Ocampos in his place felt like trying to crack a safe with a hammer.
“He is not an Ajax player, just like (Calvin) Bassey,” former Ajax ace Marciano Vink tells ESPN; labelling Ocampos – who joined on loan on deadline day – a classic ‘panic’ buy.
“If you want to succeed at Ajax, you have to have certain technical skills. (Ocampos) is a runner, and Ajax already have (Davy) Klaassen for that. Signing these players has been a kind of panic.
“I don’t understand the whole move. Now, you have to take your loss.”
Lucas Ocampos sent back to Sevilla after just one Ajax start
In the right club, in the right system, Argentina international Ocampos can be a hugely effective attacker. He scored 17 goals as Sevilla won the Europa League in 2020; 14 of those coming in La Liga.
At the time, Sevilla were demanding nearly £60 million. West Ham United, Wolves, Liverpool and a Leeds United side under the stewardship of Ocampos’ former Marseille boss Marcelo Bielsa had all expressed an intterest (Daily Mail). In the aggressive, high-octane system preferred by Bielsa and Jurgen Klopp, Ocampos’ running power and boundless energy could have been hugely productive. Ajax, however, was simply the wrong club for the wrong man.
On paper, a player who scored goals for fun at one point in Spain’s top flight looked like a signing capable of striking fear into the hearts of Cambuur, Groningen and NEC Nijmegen. A rare example of Ajax signing an established, European-quality player at the peak of his powers. If Ocampos could reach double figures in one season in La Liga, how many could he get in a league where Vincent Janssen scored goals by the bucketload? This was a statement signing. A coup, if you will.
But, as Vink points out, our beautiful game is not played on paper. Ocampos is a hugely talented footballer. But not an Ajax footballer.
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