In ‘Past of The Future’, we will tell the story of an Ajax talent. Where did he grow up? What are his dreams? How did he get into the Ajax Academy? In this fourth episode: Naci Ünüvar.
The club Ajax is well-known for its academy and the amount of talents breaking through. Some talents join the club at a very young age and worked their way through the whole academy to the first team. A fantastic generation is knocking on the ‘first team’ door harder and harder now. Ryan Gravenberch, Sontje Hansen and — since the end of January — Naci Ünüvar are three players from this generation (2001–2003) who made their first team debut already. Gravenberch is fighting for a place in the first eleven at the moment. Naci Ünüvar is going fast towards the first team as well. He is still only 16 years old, but he made his U21 debut and first team debut already. As a reward for his development he joined the first team training camp to Qatar.
Youth — Start of the dream
Naci was born in Zaandam and soon he and a football became inseparable. As a little boy he often came to see his father Ayhan play, who played at a fairly good level. Not much later Naci was allowed to start his own football dream in the youth of OFC Zaandam.
That he had a lot of talent was — fortunately — soon seen by the Ajax scouts. At the age of 5 he was invited to participate in the trials, a trajectory that was common at the time for very young talents. After getting through round after round at the famous Talent Days and different trials, he received the wonderful news that he was accepted into the Ajax academy in 2011.
“I was scouted when I played at my amateur club in Zaandam. I was invited to come to the Talent Days and every time I went one round further and further. In the end I was accepted into the academy. I was very happy when I heard it. I was already a big fan of Ajax at the time and then my father showed the letter from the club which stated that I had been accepted … I really have a good feeling at the club. I’ve been here since I was 7, so it’s been nine years now. This is just my second home. If I am not at home, then I am probably here. This is really the best club where you can play, especially when you are young. I’m still not used to it. It remains incredible to be able to play here.” (October 2018 — Ajax TV)
AFC Ajax
In 2011, the next phase of his dream began: playing at Ajax. Since then things have gone really fast with Naci. It was soon clear that he has a lot of talent, but he linked his beautiful passes, many goals and great dribbles to hard work and discipline. Not only at the club, he also trained a lot with his father and other family members. In the lower teams at least once a week in addition to the Ajax training sessions. A drive and work ethic that may be underestimated when looking at (very) talented players. When Naci went to the U12’s, Ajax began with the promotion of talents to higher teams to stimulate and challenge players.
It marked the start of Naci’s swift route through the middle and upper teams of the academy. He was allowed to continue to play in a higher team. Particularly with his physique, it was hard to cope with one to two year older opponents. But with his talent and hard work, Naci continued to excel after working his way into teams. With a great team around him, including among others Ryan Gravenberch, Kenneth Taylor, Sontje Hansen, Brian Brobbey and Ki-Jana Hoever, championships were often celebrated (U12, U14, U15). He became accustomed to playing with and against older players and that resulted in his debut as a 14 year old (U16) player for the U17s (November, 2017). A month later he proved once more that he could handle pressure at a young age. He went with his peers from Ajax U15 to play on the prestigious MTU U15 HallenCup. Naci was voted Best Player and became top scorer with 26 goals in 12 games.
Family
It is often said that footballers mature quickly and that is absolutely true. The pressure, being in the spotlights almost every week and the — great — high expectations of himself and others are just some of the things that Naci has learned to deal with from an early age. He always stays cool and grounded, which is incredible clever and something that may well be undervalued. The family and friends of Naci play a big part in this.
“My family helps me a lot. They help me when I have to respond to something or not. They keep me on the ground with both feet. I often receive messages — yes, even from agents — and my father always helps to deal with them properly. I always listen to my father and my family. Everything is going well now and I would not want anything else.” (…) “Because of my father I can focus fully on football. He says that I should not walk next to my shoes and stay focused.” (October 2018 — Ajax TV & December 2019 — FOX)
U17's, U19's & Abdelhak Nouri Award
In the U17s, he initially had to take a few steps, especially on a physical level, which isn’t strange for a 14-year-old. It quickly got better and better. He proved himself once again and got himself into the ABN AMRO Future Cup squad (April 2018). He became top scorer of the tournament with 5 goals and scored twice in the final against Juventus U17
After the following summer (season 2018–19), he became the captain of Ajax U17 and soon became a leading player. In September 2018, he made his debut for Ajax U19 in the UEFA Youth League at the age of 15. He scored and was allowed to call himself the youngest scorer of the Youth League for two minutes, due to Rayan Cherki (Olympique Lyon U19) scoring a few minutes later. Naci switched between the U17’s and U19’s a lot during that period. He played an incredible number of matches against two and sometimes three years older opponents. In total he played 38 official matches (20 for U19’s) in which he managed to score 17 goals and provide 15 assists (8 goals and 8 assists for U19’s).
In May 2019 he signed his first contract at Ajax and he received the Abdelhak Nouri Trophy for the ‘Best Talent of De Toekomst 2018–19’. “Nouri was such a great player. He always used the right skills and he was a very smart player. If you are sometimes compared with him, that is such an incredible compliment. When he was in the U19’s, he really was a leader. That is my goal for the long term too. This prize [Abdelhak Nouri Trophy] gives me a very proud feeling. This trophy also does a lot to me. What Appie showed here at De Toekomst was simply amazing. And he always continued to show that week after week. That people say that I look like Appie is something really nice to hear.” (May 2019 — Ajax TV)
Ajax U21, Pro debut & First team training camp
Exactly six months after his 16th birthday, Naci made his Ajax U21 and professional debut on 13 December 2019. One week later he scored his first goal in professional football against Oss, which made him the youngest goal scorer ever for Ajax U21. He is also the first player born in 2003 to score a goal on the Dutch professional level.
To end the year in style, Naci was told that he could join the first team training camp to Qatar. On 9 January 2020, he made his unofficial first team debut against Eupen.
Future & Dreams
Nothing is better than talents who are a huge fan of the club. After Donny van de Beek, Matthijs de Ligt, Abdelhak Nouri and many more, Naci is one of many who joined the club at a very young age. Because of his talent and his love for the club, he is a massive fan favourite already. “I am really an Ajacied. Everything feels and is good here. The club always has a lot of confidence in its own youth academy. I want to become a regular starter in the first team, to play — hopefully — a lot of matches and win a lot of prizes with the club. (…) I expect that I will deliver quality every match and try to help the team. I train very hard and I always give one hundred percent.” (May 2019 — Ajax TV, December 2019 — FOX)
And so Naci can logically only dream about one thing for this year. “As said, I am an Ajacied, a big fan of the club. I am very proud that I have been rewarded for my hard work. I always want to play football. In that regard, pleasure is the key. But I have to say that lately I dream more and more often about my first team debut. In 2020 I hope to make a lot of minutes for the U21s. And I hope to make my official debut at the Johan Cruyff ArenA.” (January 2020 — Ajax TV)
Third youngest Ajax debutant ever
Three weeks later, 22 January 2020. Naci Ünüvar was allowed to make his official first team debut in the cup fixture against Spakenburg (7–0). Earlier in the month he had already received many minutes during the pre-season matches in Qatar. But now it was time for his official debut in a sold-out Johan Cruijff ArenA. Naci became the third youngest Ajax debutant ever. Only Ryan Gravenberch (16Y, 4M) and Clarence Seedorf (16Y, 6M) were younger than Naci (16Y, 7M) during their official debut. During his debut fans were shouting his name. A few minutes later he won a penalty and everyone granted Naci the ball to score on his debut. And he did. Naci became the second youngest goalscorer ever for Ajax and also the youngest Ajax debutant to score during his official debut.
His debut reminded a lot of fans of Abdelhak Nouri’s debut in 2016 v Willem II (5–0) in the KNVB Beker. Including Naci himself. He also asked for the ball before he took the free kick to score on his debut. A moment full of goosebumps and a moment to cherish.
“It was incredible. What a night. I have no words for it. Most beautiful moment? My warming up, my goal, the moment when I came onto the pitch, every time I had the ball… The fans were simply amazing! Everyone said that the penalty was for me. I’m always quite relaxed during penalties, but this one was little bit more special. I scored during my debut, it doesn’t get any better. It’s great to see that everyone granted me this moment as well. So beautiful. Now I have to develop further. Keep working hard every day during training sessions and become stronger, play many minutes for the U21’s and try to be in the first team squad sometimes.” (January 2020 — Ajax TV)
Achievement list
Some highlights of Naci Ünüvar during the years. Not everything, because otherwise this list would be way too long… So we will start at the end of 2017.
- Making his U17 debut as 14-year-old (Nov. 2017)
- MVP + Top scorer MTU U15 Hallencup (Dec. 2017)
- Top scorer ABN AMRO Future Cup (Apr. 2018)
- U19 + UYL debut as 15-year-old (Sept. 2018)
- Abdelhak Nouri Award winner (May 2019)
- Signs first contract at Ajax (May 2019)
- EURO U17 winner (May 2019)
- Youngest goalscorer in an EURO U17 final (May 2019)
- Ajax U19 Champion + Cup winner (June 2019)
- Ajax U19 Super Cup winner (Aug. 2019)
- First goalscorer Estadi Johan Cruyff (Aug. 2019)
- Joins first team training for the first time (Sep. 2019)
- Ajax U21 debut (Dec. 2019)
- First 2003-born player with his pro debut (Dec. 2019)
- 5th youngest debutant in history of the First Division (KKD) (Dec. 2019)
- First Ajax U21 + pro goal (Dec. 2019)
- Youngest goalscorer ever for Ajax U21 (Dec. 2019)
- First 2003-born player to score a goal in Dutch pro football (Dec. 2019)
- Joins Ajax’ first team training camp to Qatar (Jan. 2020)
- Unofficial first team debut v KAS Eupen (Jan. 2020)
- Official first team debut v Spakenburg (Jan. 2020)
- Third youngest debutant in history of Ajax (Jan. 2020)
- First Ajax goal v Spakenburg (Jan. 2020)
- Second youngest goalscorer in history of Ajax (Jan. 2020)
- Youngest debutant to score a goal on his debut for Ajax (Jan. 2020)
