Matthijs de Ligt's decision to join Juventus rather than a club like Barcelona or Manchester City took his former youth team coach Ronald de Boer by surprise.
De Ligt came through Ajax's famed academy and enjoyed a meteoric rise to prominence at a very young age, earning a promotion to the first-team squad soon after his 17th birthday.
He then became the club's youngest captain as an 18-year-old and last season played a pivotal role in Ajax's journey to the semi-finals of the Champions League, before they were eventually eliminated in dramatic fashion by Tottenham.