Ryan Gravenberch was just seven years of age when Brian Tevreden saw him in action in Amsterdam for the first time. "He was unbelievable," the former Ajax youth team coach told GOAL. "You could see that this boy would become a good football player."
Tevreden was so sure of that that he even promoted Gravenberch to the club's Under-15s when the midfielder was still only 12. His only doubt at that stage was over whether Gravenberch reminded him more of Frank Rijkaard or Paul Pogba.
"Physically, I see Frank in him from back in the day because he's tall and very strong," Tevreden explained. "But, technically, I would say he's a better version of Pogba in his best days at Juventus, in terms of his technique and his presence on the pitch.
"He's very dominant like Pogba was, and that’s what I see in Ryan." Plenty of others saw it too - including Erik ten Hag...