straight to your inboxWhen a young player is coming through the academy at Ajax he is rarely short of a club legend to turn to for advice and inspiration.
For Donny van de Beek, his first big break came at joining the club and going straight into the Under-10s team coached by Dennis Bergkamp.
The former Ajax and Arsenal attacker was a master at working in the spaces of a game, of finding the gaps between the midfield and the defence to pull the strings.As he began his coaching career in the Ajax academy, a young Van de Beek caught his attention.
He saw a similar ability to manipulate space and work in those areas of the pitch where, somehow, the markers just disappeared.Bergkamp was so impressed he urged Ruben Jongkind, who was then working.
Read more on manchestereveningnews.co.uk