Ajax Prodigy Rayane Bounida Faces Challenges in Dutch Youth Setup

"I think Ajax expected more from him," admits Thijs Zwagerman, a writer who follows all the young people’s matches for the Ajax Showtime fanzine, to La Dernière Heure. "I see Rayane every other weekend when his team plays at home. At first, he was a reserve with the U17s. Since January, he has been a starter on the left side of the attack. We can see that he has superb technique, but he lacks speed. He clearly is not yet one of the team’s sure values. He is not the one who makes the decision in the matches. It must be said that he is still small and that he is facing more robust guys."

Urbain Haesart, the Belgian scout who brought him to Amsterdam, before his retirement, agrees: "Rayane is going through a slightly complicated period because he is in full growth. So we have to be patient with him but, from what I’ve been told, Ajax is satisfied with his progress so far."

Questioned about Rayane’s growth, Bob Browaeys, the Belgian U17 coach, says he was surprised to notice during a friendly tournament in Spain in early February that the 17-year-old player had gained 10 centimeters in just a few months. "He’s really growing, even if it’s with three or four years of delay on what we see most often in a boy. We quickly knew that he would be a ’late mature’ and that has been confirmed," he added. He has indeed gained 10 cm more, but he only measures 1m60. "Which still classifies him among the