Zlatan, Suarez, De Jong: Ajax's best XI of sold players is absolutely magnificent

Ajax are one of world football’s ultimate selling clubs.

The Dutch giants have raked in a massive £470 million in the last five years alone from selling their top talents.

Many of which, were homegrown stars developed in the famous Ajax youth system.

Things weren’t always this way for Ajax, though. Back in the late 20th century, the Dutch giants were very much a destination club that would frequently challenge for and claim European honours.

Whilst they still boasted the same youth system that has churned out some of the world’s greatest ever players – you know, just Johan Cruyff, Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit, and the list only goes on – their home grown talents would usually always spend a significant amount of their career at Ajax.

And as a consequence, the club enjoyed incredible success when clashing with the famous Liverpool and AC Milan teams of old – four European Cups across a 24 year spell is a strong enough testament to that.

However, since the influx of commercial TV money and the ensuing boom in major European leagues that followed it, Ajax simply haven’t been able to compete financially.

The best players they develop are often sold on to major clubs in England, Spain or Italy before reaching their 21st birthday.

And ultimately, playing the role of ‘seller’ has become a necessary strategy in the modern era for them.

Now, while obviously not ideal given their vintage history, it’s a fact that’s accepted amongst the Ajax fan base – they’re never going to be able to match the wages of a Barcelona, although, maybe they aren’t the best example given their current financial predicament…

But what they have become frighteningly good at is picking out exceptionally good young players and moulding them into