Tolu Arokodare's arrival spells the end for Kasper Dolberg at Ajax. At least, that is the view of Jan van Halst and Sam van Royen, as they made clear in their analysis on Ziggo Sport before Ajax v FK Vojvodina.
Ajax officially presented Tolu on Wednesday. The club have taken the 25-year-old Nigerian on loan from Wolverhampton Wanderers for one season and also secured an option to buy worth €20 million. With Marcos Leonardo already there, the expectation is that Dolberg will have to make way.
“This is the end of the road for Dolberg, one hundred per cent,” Van Halst begins. “That is done. But who is still going to buy him now?” Van Royen wonders. “At least, they are not going to make a profit on him any more, because he was bought for 9 million (10 million, ed.).”
Van Halst agrees with his colleague. “I don’t think so either. But anyway, it is also hopeless for him. Last year, of course, he also did not really give off the impression that he wanted to do everything to make his return at Ajax a resounding success.”
He then adds: “He is of course a wonderfully gifted player, technically, but at a certain age they expect a bit more from you within a team. That is not really in his character.”
Last summer Ajax signed Dolberg from Anderlecht for €10 million, but he has yet to make much of an impression. In 22 appearances last season, he produced 3 goals and 3 assists.
Right now, Ajax have four strikers in the squad: Tolu, Leonardo, Dolberg and Don-Angelo Konadu. On Thursday, though, Dolberg will still start "as usual" against FK Vojvodina.