Edson Alvarez officially joins famous Dutch club Ajax
By Dan Chapman
After renewing his contract with America in May, the 21-year-old Gold Cup-winning midfielder has been signed by Eredivisie titans Ajax.
Coming out of America’s youth academy in 2016, Edson Alvarez has rapidly become a key player for Aguilas teams that won Liga MX (Apertura 2018) and Copa MX titles (Clausura 2019). It’s easy to forget that he had just turned 21 when he scored both goals in America’s 2-0 win over Cruz Azul in the league final.
America and Edson just agreed to a transfer to Ajax Amsterdam where the versatile midfielder/defender will get a chance to play UEFA Champions League football. The Tlalnepantla native plays with a style and confidence that belies his youth and he carries himself like a 5-year veteran.
Alvarez has quickly but surely developed into one of, if not the most promising young player in Mexico along with winger Hirving Lozano who will face off against Edson in the Dutch De Topper rivalry (Ajax-PSV Eindhoven).
No doubt, Alvarez will avoid (or overcome) the difficulties that Erick Gutierrez experienced when he moved to PSV a year ago. Alvarez is already a seasoned regular for Team Mexico and was arguably Club America’s most important player over the last year and a half. On the other hand, Gutierrez was still very much a prospect, albeit a promising one, when he left Mexico.
The move to Ajax comes off the back of an impressive summer for Alvarez, one of Mexico’s stand-out players in El Tri’s win over rivals USA to claim yet another Gold Cup trophy. It is possible that his performances in the Concacaf tournament sealed the deal for Ajax to pounce on a player they clearly rate very highly.
Ajax Amsterdam is a world-renowned club that gave birth to Dutch legend Johan Cruyff and is famous for developing youth players through its academy and by recruiting young players.
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Edson heads to Europe
Set to sign a 5-year contract with Ajax, Alvarez will be at the Harvard and Oxford of football academies. We can assume he will leave the club a world class player. He arrived to Amsterdam Sunday afternoon and is scheduled to take a physical on Monday, then will be officially presented to the public.
On Saturday night, America and its fans paid tribute to the Aguilas product during half time of their season-opener against Monterrey.
Team Mexico fans will undoubtedly be studying Alvarez’s every move at Ajax and analyzing every game he features in for them. How quickly he will be able to establish a first team position within the club remains to be seen, but given his impressive career path, it probably won’t take too long.
For now at least, everyone can sit back and celebrate a fantastic move for a player that clearly has the makings of a Mexican great in the mould of a certain Rafa Marquez.