2016–17 AFC Ajax season
# 2016–17 AFC Ajax season

During the 2016–17 season, AFC Ajax participated in the Eredivisie, the KNVB Cup, the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Europa League.The first training took place on 25 June 2016. The traditional AFC Ajax Open Day was held on 29 July 2016.

## Player statistics

Appearances for competitive matches only

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League | UEFA Champions League UEFA Europa League | KNVB Cup | KNVB Cup |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 2 | DF | NED | Kenny Tete | 19 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8+3 | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NED | Joël Veltman | 44 | 0 | 30 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 4 | DF | NED | Jaïro Riedewald | 28 | 1 | 11+5 | 0 | 10+1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| 5 | DF | COL | Davinson Sánchez | 45 | 6 | 32 | 6 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 7 | FW | BRA | David Neres | 12 | 3 | 5+3 | 3 | 0+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 8 | MF | NED | Daley Sinkgraven | 32 | 1 | 21+3 | 1 | 6+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | BFA | Bertrand Traoré | 39 | 13 | 22+2 | 9 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 0 |
| 10 | MF | NED | Davy Klaassen | 50 | 16 | 33 | 14 | 17 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | GER | Amin Younes | 47 | 8 | 28+1 | 3 | 17 | 5 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 16 | DF | GER | Heiko Westermann | 8 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 17 | FW | CZE | Václav Černý | 10 | 1 | 2+3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| 19 | FW | COL | Mateo Cassierra | 29 | 4 | 1+16 | 2 | 4+5 | 0 | 3 | 2 |
| 20 | FW | DEN | Lasse Schöne | 43 | 9 | 26+1 | 7 | 11+3 | 1 | 1+1 | 1 |
| 21 | MF | NED | Frenkie de Jong | 11 | 1 | 1+3 | 1 | 0+4 | 0 | 1+2 | 0 |
| 22 | MF | MAR | Hakim Ziyech | 42 | 10 | 28 | 7 | 11+2 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| 24 | GK | CMR | André Onana | 46 | 0 | 32 | 0 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 25 | FW | DEN | Kasper Dolberg | 48 | 22 | 26+3 | 16 | 12+5 | 6 | 1+1 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | NED | Nick Viergever | 43 | 2 | 27+2 | 2 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| 30 | MF | NED | Donny van de Beek | 31 | 0 | 4+15 | 0 | 5+5 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 33 | GK | NED | Diederik Boer | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 |
| 34 | MF | NED | Abdelhak Nouri | 15 | 1 | 1+8 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 2+1 | 1 |
| 36 | DF | NED | Matthijs de Ligt | 23 | 3 | 6+5 | 2 | 8+1 | 0 | 3 | 1 |
| 40 | DF | NED | Carel Eiting | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 42 | DF | NED | Deyovaisio Zeefuik | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 (48) | GK | NED | Norbert Alblas | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 44 | FW | NED | Pelle Clement | 4 | 3 | 0+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 1+1 | 3 |
| 45 | FW | NED | Justin Kluivert | 20 | 2 | 7+7 | 2 | 2+4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season: ||||||||||||
| 1 | GK | NED | Jasper Cillessen | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 1 | GK | NED | Tim Krul | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NED | Riechedly Bazoer | 10 | 1 | 3+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | NED | Anwar El Ghazi | 20 | 2 | 7+5 | 0 | 4+2 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 27 | MF | SRB | Nemanja Gudelj | 13 | 2 | 5+1 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | DF | NED | Mitchell Dijks | 20 | 0 | 8+4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 |

As of 24 May 2017

## Team statistics

### 2016–17 Eredivisie standings

| Current standing | Matches played | Wins | Draws | Losses | Points | Goals for | Goals against | Yellow cards | Red cards |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 2 | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 81 | 79 | 23 | 40 | 2 |

**Points by match day**

| Match day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points | 3 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 81 |

**Total points by match day**

| Match day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Points | 3 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 13 | 16 | 19 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 27 | 30 | 33 | 36 | 36 | 37 | 40 | 43 | 46 | 49 | 52 | 55 | 58 | 59 | 62 | 63 | 66 | 69 | 72 | 75 | 75 | 78 | 81 | 81 |

**Standing by match day**

| Match day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Standing |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Standing | 4 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 |

**Goals by match day**

| Match day | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | Total |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Goals | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 79 |

**Topscorers**

| Nr. | Name | |
| - | - | - |
| 1. | Kasper Dolberg | 16 |
| 2. | Davy Klaassen | 14 |
| 3. | Bertrand Traoré | 9 |
| 4. | Lasse Schöne | 7 |
| 4. | Hakim Ziyech | 7 |
| 6. | Davinson Sánchez | 6 |
| 7. | David Neres | 3 |
| 7. | Amin Younes | 3 |
| 9. | Mateo Cassierra | 2 |
| 9. | Matthijs de Ligt | 2 |
| 9. | Nemanja Gudelj | 2 |
| 9. | Justin Kluivert | 2 |
| 9. | Nick Viergever | 2 |
| 14. | Frenkie de Jong | 1 |
| 14. | Daley Sinkgraven | 1 |
| Own goal | Kevin Conboy (Utrecht) | 1 |
| Own goal | Wojciech Golla (NEC) | 1 |
| | Total | 79 |
| Nr. | Name | |
| 1. | Pelle Clement | 3 |
| 2. | Mateo Cassierra | 2 |
| 3. | Riechedly Bazoer | 1 |
| 3. | Václav Černý | 1 |
| 3. | Matthijs de Ligt | 1 |
| 3. | Anwar El Ghazi | 1 |
| 3. | Abdelhak Nouri | 1 |
| 3. | Lasse Schöne | 1 |
| 3. | Hakim Ziyech | 1 |
| | Total | 12 |
| Nr. | Name | |
| 1. | Davy Klaassen | 4 |
| 2. | Kasper Dolberg | 1 |
| | Total | 5 |
| Nr. | Name | |
| 1. | Kasper Dolberg | 6 |
| 2. | Bertrand Traoré | 4 |
| 2. | Amin Younes | 4 |
| 4. | Davy Klaassen | 2 |
| 4. | Nick Viergever | 2 |
| 4. | Hakim Ziyech | 2 |
| 4. | Anwar El Ghazi | 1 |
| 4. | Jaïro Riedewald | 1 |
| 4. | Lasse Schöne | 1 |
| 4. | Kenny Tete | 1 |
| | Total | 24 |

## Placements

| | Friendlies | KNVB Cup | UEFA Champions League | UEFA Europa League | Eredivisie |
| - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Status | 7 played, 2 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses | Third Round Last opponent: SC Cambuur | Play-off round Last opponent: FC Rostov | Final Last opponent: Manchester United | 34 played, 25 wins, 6 draws, 3 loss 2nd |

* Davinson Sánchez was voted Player of the year by the supporters of AFC Ajax.
* Kasper Dolberg was voted Talent of the year by the supporters of AFC Ajax.
* Peter Bosz was nominated for the Rinus Michels Award 2017 in the category: Best Trainer/Coach in Professional Football.
* Kasper Dolberg was voted Danish Talent of the Year: 2017 by the Danish Football Association.
* Matthijs de Ligt, Bertrand Traoré and Amin Younes were selected for the 2017 UEFA Europa League squad of the season by the UEFA Technical Observers.

## Competitions

All times are in CEST

### Eredivisie

**League table**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Feyenoord (C) | 34 | 26 | 4 | 4 | 86 | 25 | +61 | 82 | Qualification to Champions League group stage |
| 2 | Ajax | 34 | 25 | 6 | 3 | 79 | 23 | +56 | 81 | Qualification to Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | PSV Eindhoven | 34 | 22 | 10 | 2 | 68 | 23 | +45 | 76 | Qualification to Europa League third qualifying round |
| 4 | Utrecht (O) | 34 | 18 | 8 | 8 | 54 | 38 | +16 | 62 | Qualification to European competition play-offs |
| 5 | Vitesse | 34 | 15 | 6 | 13 | 51 | 40 | +11 | 51 | Qualification to Europa League group stage |

* ↑ Four teams played for a spot in the Europa League second qualifying round.
* ↑ Vitesse qualified for the Europa League group stage by winning the 2016–17 KNVB Cup.

### UEFA Europa League

**Group stage**

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification |
| - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 1 | Ajax | 6 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 11 | 6 | +5 | 14 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 2 | Celta Vigo | 6 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 10 | 7 | +3 | 9 | Advance to knockout phase |
| 3 | Standard Liège | 6 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 6 | +2 | 7 | |
| 4 | Panathinaikos | 6 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 3 | 13 | −10 | 1 | |

## Transfers for 2016–17

### Summer transfer window

For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the summer window (1 July 2016 to 31 August 2016) please see List of Dutch football transfers summer 2016.

**Arrivals**

* The following players moved to AFC Ajax.

| Name | Position | Transfer type | Previous club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell |
| Lerin Duarte | Midfielder | 30 June 2016 | NAC Breda | - |
| Ruben Ligeon | Defender | 30 June 2016 | FC Utrecht | - |
| Zakaria El Azzouzi | Forward | 30 June 2016 | FC Twente | - |
| Óttar Magnús Karlsson | Defender | 30 June 2016 | Sparta Rotterdam | - |
| Lucas Andersen | Forward | 30 June 2016 | Willem II | - |
| Queensy Menig | Forward | 30 June 2016 | PEC Zwolle | - |
| Sheraldo Becker | Forward | 30 June 2016 | PEC Zwolle | - |
| Lesly de Sa | Forward | 30 June 2016 | Willem II | - |
| Xavier Mous | Goalkeeper | 30 June 2016 | Oss | - |
| Loan | Loan | Loan | Loan | Loan |
| Tim Krul | Goalkeeper | 25 August 2016 | Newcastle United | - |
| Bertrand Traoré | Forward | 12 August 2016 | Chelsea | €2,000,000 |
| Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer |
| Hakim Ziyech | Midfielder | 30 August 2016 | Twente | €11,000,000 |
| Davinson Sánchez | Defender | 21 June 2016 | Atlético Nacional | €5,000,000 |
| Mateo Casierra | Forward | 17 June 2016 | Deportivo Cali | €5,000,000 |
| Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer |
| Heiko Westermann | Defender | 14 July 2016 | Real Betis | - |
| Boy Kemper | Defender | 11 May 2016 | Volendam | - |
| Danilho Doekhi | Defender | 2 May 2016 | Excelsior | - |
| Pascal Struijk | Defender | 19 April 2016 | ADO Den Haag | - |
| Abdallah Aberkane | Defender | 11 April 2016 | ADO Den Haag | - |

**Departures**

* The following players moved from AFC Ajax.

| Name | Position | Transfer type | New club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan |
| Robert Murić | Forward | 20 August 2016 | Pescara | - |
| Richairo Zivkovic | Forward | 30 June 2016 | Utrecht | - |
| Indy Groothuizen | Goalkeeper | 30 June 2016 | Nordsjælland | - |
| Django Warmerdam | Defender | 30 June 2016 | PEC Zwolle | - |
| Leeroy Owusu | Defender | 30 June 2016 | Excelsior | - |
| Queensy Menig | Forward | 30 June 2016 | PEC Zwolle | - |
| Zakaria El Azzouzi | Forward | 30 June 2016 | Sparta Rotterdam | - |
| Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer |
| Jasper Cillessen | Goalkeeper | 25 August 2016 | Barcelona | €13,000,000 + €2,000,000 variables |
| Sheraldo Becker | Forward | 21 August 2016 | ADO Den Haag | €200,000 |
| Arkadiusz Milik | Forward | 2 August 2016 | Napoli | €32,000,000 |
| Ricardo van Rhijn | Defender | 18 July 2016 | Club Brugge | €1,800,000 |
| Mike van der Hoorn | Defender | 5 July 2016 | Swansea City | €2,500,000 |
| Lucas Andersen | Forward | 5 July 2016 | Grasshopper | €1,500,000 |
| Viktor Fischer | Forward | 26 May 2016 | Middlesbrough | €5,000,000 |
| Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer |
| Danny Bakker | Midfielder | 5 September 2016 | Cambuur | - |
| Lerin Duarte | Midfielder | 11 August 2016 | Heracles Almelo | - |
| Elton Acolatse | Forward | 21 July 2016 | Westerlo | - |
| Lesly de Sa | Forward | 1 July 2016 | Slovan Bratislava | - |
| Nicolai Boilesen | Defender | 1 July 2016 | Copenhagen | - |
| Milan Vissie | Midfielder | 1 July 2016 | Cambuur | - |
| Aschraf El Mahdioui | Midfielder | 1 July 2016 | ADO Den Haag | - |
| Philippe Sandler | Forward | 17 June 2016 | PEC Zwolle | - |
| Sam Hendriks | Forward | 15 June 2016 | Go Ahead Eagles | - |
| Ruben Ligeon | Defender | 9 June 2016 | Slovan Bratislava | - |
| Damon Mirani | Defender | 31 May 2016 | Almere City | - |
| Xavier Mous | Goalkeeper | 19 May 2016 | Oss | - |
| Jordy Bruijn | Midfielder | 13 May 2016 | Heerenveen | - |
| Óttar Magnús Karlsson | Forward | 22 April 2016 | Víkingur Reykjavík | - |
| Damian van Bruggen | Defender | 19 April 2016 | PSV | - |
| Juan Familia-Castillo | Midfielder | 1 July 2016 | Chelsea | - |
| Millen Baars | Forward | 1 July 2016 | Manchester United | - |

### Winter transfer window

For a list of all Dutch football transfers in the winter window (1 January 2017 to 1 February 2017) please see List of Dutch football transfers winter 2016–17.

**Arrivals**

* The following players moved to AFC Ajax.

| Name | Position | Transfer type | Previous club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer |
| Sebastian Pasquali | Midfielder | 1 January 2017 | Melbourne Victory | ? |
| David Neres | Forward | 31 January 2017 | São Paulo | €12,000,000 + €3,000,000 variables |
| Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer |
| Mateusz Górski | Goalkeeper | 24 January 2017 | Śląsk Wrocław | - |

**Departures**

* The following players moved from AFC Ajax.

| Name | Position | Transfer type | New club | Fee |
| - | - | - | - | - |
| Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan | Out on loan |
| Mitchell Dijks | Defender | 30 January 2017 | Norwich City | - |
| Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell | Return from loan spell |
| Tim Krul | Goalkeeper | 31 January 2017 | Newcastle United | - |
| Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer | Transfer |
| Riechedly Bazoer | Midfielder | 1 January 2017 | VfL Wolfsburg | €12,000,000 |
| Nemanja Gudelj | Midfielder | 5 January 2017 | Tianjin TEDA | €5,500,000 |
| Francesco Antonucci | Midfielder | 7 January 2017 | Monaco | €2,500,000 |
| Anwar El Ghazi | Forward | 31 January 2017 | Lille | €8,500,000 |
| Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer | Free Transfer |
| Adham El Idrissi | Midfielder | 16 January 2017 | Roda JC | - |
