There was a moment almost 50 minutes into Ajax’s 9-0 disintegration of SC Cambuur on Saturday that summed up why Ryan Gravenberch is so frequently compared to a £93 million World Cup-winning superstar.
Picking up the ball just inside the opposition half, the 19-year-old shaped as if to play a simple pass out wide. But, in the blink of an eye, he turned on the afterburners and breezed past an unsuspecting Cambuur midfielder before dissecting the visiting defence with an inch-perfect through ball.
To some, the Ajax wonder kid is already a “better version of Paul Pogba”.
And while such a claim may have its roots in hyperbole, anyone who has watched his star rise during the past three years will tell you why Gravenberch has been tipped for super-stardom even before making his debut for the Eredivisie giants at the age of just 16, becoming the youngest goalscorer in Ajax’s proud history in the process.
According to Calciomercato, Tottenham Hotspur are already putting plans in place to sign Gravenberch in 2022, with sporting director Fabio Paratici looking to fight off former employers Juventus for a teenager who would set the London giants back a cool £26 million.
But if there’s even the slightest hint Europe’s most successful selling club are willing to cash in on their prized asset, you can bet your bottom dollar Spurs will have plenty of competition – and not just from Juventus either.
Could Ryan Gravenberch really head to Tottenham?
Gravenberch didn’t score or even create a goal as Ajax put nine past a beleaguered Cambuur at the Johan Cruyff Arena. But that shouldn’t distract from a performance oozing quality, class and composure.
The teenager completed ten dribbles – more than anyone in a single Eredivisie game this season – and played a major role in Ajax’s ninth of the night, slaloming through a forest of legs before kick-starting another attack with one of those trademark slide-rule passes.
He was a width of the post away from making it ten at the death, too.
It was a performance Pogba himself would have been proud of. Then again, it seems only a matter of time before Gravenberch is putting that “new Pogba” moniker behind him.
Here’s what some supporters on Twitter, including those of a Tottenham persuasion, made of the 9-0 thrashing:
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