After Ajax won the Champions League, their star player Frenkie de Jong and captain De Ligt attracted the most attention. These two stars were regarded as Ajax's cornerstones, as well as the pillars of Dutch football for the next decade.
Almost every elite club in Europe was watching developments at Ajax, especially where the two stars would end up. Major clubs came knocking with offers in an endless stream, leaving the media and fans eagerly anticipating the outcome. Any completed transfer was bound to break the hundred-million-euro mark and command an astronomical fee.
Surprisingly, however, the first player to kick off the shopping spree at Ajax was neither Frenkie de Jong nor De Ligt, but Brazilian winger Neres.
The twenty-two-year-old Brazilian winger was adept with both feet and could attack down either flank. His dribbling and ability to beat defenders were excellent, as was his passing, making him an important part of Ajax's attacking trident.
Even before the season ended, Manchester United, who had been knocked out by Ajax in the Champions League round of sixteen, had reportedly shown interest in Neres. Solskjær publicly stated that he believed Neres could greatly improve Manchester United's attacking power.
Manchester United had even impatiently approached Ajax before the season ended to ask their price for Neres, only to be turned down because Ajax had no intention of negotiating before the season was over.
That delay, however, saw the value of Ajax's players shoot up like rockets.
At the beginning of the season, Neres had been worth around twenty million euros. But after a glorious campaign, especially their miraculous Champions League triumph, the value of Ajax's players soared across the board, and Neres's valuation reached seventy million euros.
That put him firmly in the price bracket of Europe's top-tier players.
Even so, despite his