Former Ajax midfielder Kenneth Perez has warned Noussair Mazraoui against a move to Arsenal, insisting that the Premier League giants are no longer an ‘absolute top’ club, speaking to ESPN’s Voetbal Talk.
Even the most ardent Eredivisie fanatic would have to admit that swapping the Dutch top-flight – with it’s RJK Waalwijks, it’s SC Cambuurs and it’s Go Ahead Eagles – for arguably the most competitive, high-profile league in European football would represent a step in the right direction for a talented young player with the ambition to match his ability.
24-year-old Mazraoui will be a free-agent this summer.
And the Morroco international has no intention of signing a new contract at the Johan Cruyff Arena (Voetbal Primeur).
According to ESPN, Mazraoui has admirers at Leeds United, as well as Arsenal.
But can one of the game’s most exciting up-and-coming right-backs afford to aim a little bit higher?
Ajax, after all, have won more Champions League games this season (six) than Arsenal have since October 2015.
Should Noussair Mazraoui be wary about joining Arsenal?
“A player always has to reach the absolute top. Arsenal are not the absolute top,” says Perez, who had two spells at Ajax in the 2000s.
“There, you can play in relative peace at the moment. You are not expected to become a champion there. But they do expect you to be slightly higher than tenth.”
The attack-minded Mazraoui scored his fifth goal in just 16 Eredivisie games as Ajax leapfrogged title-rivals PSV Eindhoven with a 2-1 win at the Phillips Stadium on Sunday.
Between them, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Alexandre Lacazette and Eddie Nketiah – the three centre-forwards at Mikel Arteta’s disposal – have netted just seven in the Premier League.
A big-name number nine is Arsenal’s top priority with just a week of the transfer window remaining. But more attacking thrust from elsewhere – at right-back for instance – would be well received too.
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