The talented teenager of Ghanaian descent, who is now living his dream in plying his trade with the Amsterdam-based club, says he is now content with his playing career so far with his boyhood club as that has been his wish since infancy
Dutch-born Ghanaian starlet Denzel Darko has said that playing for Eredivisie giants Ajax has been his dream since he was a little boy.
The 16-year-old, who joined the Johan Cruyff Arena campaigners at age 6, is now sharing his experience throughout his developmental stages over his journey having started from the Ajax U8 to AjaxU17 over his promising football career so far.
Speaking in an interview, the talented budding star has told AJAXSHOWTIME: ''It feels familiar to me; as a little boy, I dreamed of playing for Ajax. After all these years, I still come to the club with pleasure. I used to be one of the most playful players in the team. That is why I learned to be more serious. I have always been very competitive and actually can't stand losing. That is a good thing, but I have learned to handle it better.''
Following his promotion from the AjaxU15 to the AjaxU17 last summer, Darko has now given much emphasis on the challenges he encountered at the early stages especially with the rigorous training drills at the training grounds with his new team-mates.
''At the start of this season, it was very tough. Especially in terms of fitness and covering ground. At Ajax U15, we didn't do those runs before training or fitness tests. At Ajax U17, that was suddenly the case,'' he pointed out. He continued; ''My body had to get used to that, so in the beginning, I was given a program by the physiotherapist to build up gradually. But I must say, as the season progressed, things went much better. It was going in the right direction until my injury.
With the 2026 Future Cup tournament set to commence over the weekend, the Ghana-prospect promising talent is ready to prove his worth by helping the Ajax U17 team to win the trophy at the Sportpark de Toekomst in Netherlands.
''I see this tournament [Future Cup] more as publicity for Ajax, and we as a team can contribute to that. That pressure from the media actually gives me extra motivation to go all out this weekend and win that cup. That is always the goal, isn't it. With and without the ball, I need to be of value to the team and I want to make my contribution. Beyond that, I want to show the public what I stand for: a player with a lot of flair and a nose for goal. I want to perform, and then the rest will follow naturally,'' he underscored.
Given his glaring talent, the Ghana FA technical team would now be compelled to monitor his progress at Ajax for future call-up on the international stage having played for the Netherlands U15 national youth team.
By Hassan B Alhassan
