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The great Johan Cruijff left Ajax in 1973 and joined FC Barcelona for a €2 million.
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A year later, Johan Neeskens followed him to the Catalan capital.
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To this day, Marco van Basten is regarded as one of the best strikers of all time. AC Milan benefited from his abilities in 1987.
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Frank Rijkaard left his youth club in the summer of 1988 for €2.27 million for Sporting…
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…while Aron Winter preferred a move to Lazio in January of 1992. The fee at the time was €1.3 million.
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Dennis Bergkamp tried his luck at Inter Milan in 1993 before becoming an icon at Arsenal a few years later. The Nerazurri paid €9.77 million for the forward.
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Clarence Seedorf’s first move abroad was to the Serie A. Sampdoria paid €3.62 million for the midfielder, who later played for Real Madrid, Inter and AC Milan
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Patrick Kluivert played for AC Milan for a year in 1997 before he made the move to Barcelona. The original €2 million fee which the Italians paid for the striker increased tenfold during his time at the club.
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The exodus to Italy was continued by Edgar Davids, who also moved to Milan on a free transfer in January 1998.
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In January 1999, brothers Frank and Ronald de Boer moved to FC Barcelona for €7.5 million each.
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Also on a free transfer, goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar left for Juventus in 1999.
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A few years later, a new generation of players was ready to move abroad. HSV were more than happy to sign Rafael van der Vaart for €5.1 million in the summer of 2005…
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…and a half year late Nigel de Jong for only €1.5 million.
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In the summer of 2007, Real Madrid paid €27 million for midfielder Wesley Sneijder.
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Ryan Babel brought in €17.25 million with his move to Liverpool.
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A year later Johnny Heitinga left for around €10 million.
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Thomas Vermaelen spent many years in the Ajax youth system. In 2009, Arsenal bought the defender for €12 million.
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His compatriot Jan Vertonghen followed him toLondon three years later, but his decision led him to the Spurs who paid half a million more on his transfer fee than Arsenal did for Vermaelen.
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Spurs bought another youngster a year later. For a €13.5 million, Christian Eriksen joined the Premier League club.
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Tony Alderweireld also famously ended up at Tottenham, but initially joined Atlético Madrid for €7 million in the summer of 2013.
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Defender Daley Blind went to Manchester United for €17.5 million in 2014 – and returned to his youth club for €1.5 million less in 2018.
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Davy Klaassen was signed by Everton for €27 million in the summer of 2017. The midfielder was also a long-time member of Ajax’s De Toekomst football school ahead of his year in England.
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Justin Kluivert moved to AS Roma for €17.25 million in the summer of 2018.
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In July 2019, Frenkie de Jong joined FC Barcelona for a then club-record fee of €86 million…
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… while Juventus completed the €85.5 million signing of Matthijs de Ligt later that month.
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Donny van de Beek tried his luck with a €39 million move to Manchester United in 2020.
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In the same year, Sergiño Dest also joined Barça. A transfer fee of €21 million was due for the US international.
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One of the latest homegrown players to leave Ajax’s famous academy is Ryan Gravenberch. The midfielder signed for Bayern Munich in the summer of 2022. The German club paid a fee of €18.5 million.
