# 2022–23 AFC Ajax season

The 2022–23 season was the 123rd season in the history of AFC Ajax and their 67th consecutive season in the top flight. The club participated in the Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, Johan Cruyff Shield, UEFA Champions League, and UEFA Europa League.
The mid-season break was longer and started earlier because of the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, with the last match on 13 November 2022, and the first match after the World Cup on 8 January 2023 (following the World Cup final on 18 December 2022).

## Players
### Squad

    As of 6 January 2023
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 1 | GK | NED | Maarten Stekelenburg |
| 2 | DF | NED | Jurriën Timber (vice-captain) |
| 3 | DF | NGA | Calvin Bassey |
| 4 | MF | MEX | Edson Álvarez |
| 5 | DF | NED | Owen Wijndal |
| 6 | MF | NED | Davy Klaassen |
| 7 | FW | NED | Steven Bergwijn |
| 8 | MF | NED | Kenneth Taylor |
| 9 | FW | NED | Brian Brobbey |
| 10 | FW | SRB | Dušan Tadić (captain) |
| 12 | GK | ARG | Gerónimo Rulli |
| 13 | DF | TUR | Ahmetcan Kaplan |
| No. | Pos. | Nation | Player |
| 15 | DF | NED | Devyne Rensch |
| 16 | GK | NED | Jay Gorter |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Lorenzo Lucca (on loan from Pisa) |
| 19 | DF | MEX | Jorge Sánchez |
| 20 | MF | GHA | Mohammed Kudus |
| 21 | MF | AUT | Florian Grillitsch |
| 22 | GK | NED | Remko Pasveer |
| 23 | FW | NED | Steven Berghuis |
| 25 | DF | NED | Youri Baas |
| 26 | DF | NED | Youri Regeer |
| 35 | FW | POR | Francisco Conceição |

## Transfers
### In

| Date | Pos. | Player | Transferred from | Fee |
| 8 July 2022 | FW | Steven Bergwijn | Tottenham Hotspur | €31,250,000 |
| 12 July 2022 | DF | Owen Wijndal | AZ | €10,000,000 |
| 20 July 2022 | DF | Calvin Bassey | Rangers | €23,000,000 |
| 21 July 2022 | FW | Francisco Conceição | FC Porto | €5,000,000 |
| 22 July 2022 | FW | Brian Brobbey | RB Leipzig | €16,350,000 |
| 10 August 2022 | DF | Jorge Sánchez | Club América | €5,000,000 |
| 19 August 2022 | DF | Ahmetcan Kaplan | Trabzonspor | €9,500,000 |
| 1 September 2022 | MF | Florian Grillitsch | 1899 Hoffenheim | Free transfer |
| 6 January 2023 | GK | Gerónimo Rulli | Villarreal | €8,000,000 |

### Out

| Date | Pos. | Player | Transferred to | Fee |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | Zakaria Labyad | Released | Free transfer |
| 30 June 2022 | FW | Danilo | Feyenoord | Free transfer |
| 30 June 2022 | GK | Przemysław Tytoń | FC Twente | Free transfer |
| 30 June 2022 | DF | Noussair Mazraoui | Bayern Munich | Free transfer |
| 30 June 2022 | GK | André Onana | Inter Milan | Free transfer |
| 30 June 2022 | MF | Ryan Gravenberch | Bayern Munich | €18,500,000 |
| 30 June 2022 | DF | Liam van Gelderen | Groningen | €450,000 |
| 30 June 2022 | GK | Dominik Kotarski | Gorica | €1,000,000 |
| 7 July 2022 | FW | Sébastien Haller | Borussia Dortmund | €31,000,000 |
| 17 July 2022 | DF | Lisandro Martínez | Manchester United | €57,370,000 |
| 23 July 2022 | DF | Nicolás Tagliafico | Lyon | €4,200,000 |
| 18 August 2022 | DF | Perr Schuurs | Torino | €9,000,000 |
| 25 August 2022 | FW | Hassane Bandé | Amiens | Undisclosed |
| 29 August 2022 | DF | Sean Klaiber | FC Utrecht | Free transfer |
| 30 August 2022 | FW | Antony | Manchester United | €95,000,000 |
| 27 December 2022 | DF | Daley Blind | Bayern Munich | Free transfer |
| 4 January 2023 | FW | Giovanni | Fluminense FC | Undisclosed |
| 5 January 2023 | DF | Lisandro Magallán | Elche | Free transfer |
| 31 January 2023 | MF | Victor Jensen | FC Utrecht | Undisclosed |
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €26,500,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Transfer fee was contractually limited to €5,000,000.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €19,350,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €24,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Plus resale percentage of 20% agreed.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €34,500,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €67,370,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €11,300,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.
* ↑ Fee may eventually rise to €100,000,000, due to undisclosed bonuses.

### Loans in

| Start date | Pos. | Player | From | End date | Fee |
| 28 January 2022 | FW | Patrickson Delgado | Independiente del Valle | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| 4 August 2022 | FW | Lorenzo Lucca | Pisa | 30 June 2023 | €1,000,000 |
| 31 August 2022 | FW | Lucas Ocampos | Sevilla | 17 January 2023 | €4,000,000 |
* ↑ Loan agreed initially until 30 June 2023, but it was terminated in January.

### Loans out

| Start date | Pos. | Player | To | End date | Fee |
| 1 March 2022 | MF | Victor Jensen | Rosenborg | 31 December 2022 | Undisclosed |
| 1 July 2022 | MF | Max de Waal | ADO Den Haag | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| 1 August 2022 | DF | Anass Salah-Eddine | FC Twente | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| 3 August 2022 | FW | Mohamed Daramy | Copenhagen | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| 26 August 2022 | MF | Naci Ünüvar | Trabzonspor | 30 June 2023 | €150,000 |
| 30 November 2022 | DF | Kik Pierie | Excelsior Rotterdam | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |
| 31 January 2023 | GK | Jay Gorter | Aberdeen | 30 June 2023 | Undisclosed |

## Overview
### Pre-season

New manager Alfred Schreuder, arriving from Club Brugge, began the new season on 22 June 2022. On 1 June, several Dutch media wrote that assistant coach Winston Bogarde would no longer be part of the technical staff of the club in the upcoming season. On 7 June, Ajax announced that main shirt sponsor Ziggo would extend their sponsorship on the back of the shirt with the name of their fibre optic cable name ‘GigaNet’. On 17 June, Dutch media confirmed that Matthias Kaltenbach would replace Bogarde as assistant coach and come to Ajax for a minimal transfer fee. On 19 June, Ajax released their new home kit for the new season.

## Pre-season and friendlies

Win  Draw  Loss  Cancelled  Fixtures

### Pre-season

Ajax had a training camp in De Lutte, Netherlands from 27 June to 3 July. There they hosted two friendly matches against German sides SV Meppen and SC Paderborn. On 1 July the club announced two further friendlies against Lokomotiva Zagreb from Croatia and KAS Eupen from Belgium, which were played behind closed doors. There was then a training camp in Austria from 17 to 23 July where Ajax played against Red Bull Salzburg on 19 July in Saalfelden. The match against Eintracht Frankfurt on 23 July though, was cancelled due to several COVID-19 cases in the Ajax-squad. On 26 July there was a charity game against the Ukrainian side Shakhtar Donetsk, the proceeds from which were provided to various charities and organisations supporting Ukrainian refugees.

### Mid-season

Ajax had a mid-season training camp in Marbella, Spain. From 28 November until 3 December, without the players that were on the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar and with Jong Ajax players. The last day there was a training match against Blackburn Rovers.

## Competitions
### Overall record

| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record | Record |
| Competition | First match | Last match | Starting round | Final position | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % |
| Eredivisie | 6 August 2022 | 28 May 2023 | Matchday 1 | 3rd | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 86 | 38 | +48 | 058.82 |
| KNVB Cup | 11 January 2023 | 30 April 2023 | Second round | Runners-up | 5 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 2 | +7 | 080.00 |
| Johan Cruyff Shield | 30 July 2022 | 30 July 2022 | Final | Runners-up | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 5 | −2 | 000.00 |
| UEFA Champions League | 7 September 2022 | 1 November 2022 | Group stage | Group stage | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 033.33 |
| UEFA Europa League | 16 February 2023 | 23 February 2023 | Knockout round play-offs | Knockout round play-offs | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 000.00 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 48 | 26 | 11 | 11 | 110 | 64 | +46 | 054.17 |
Source: Soccerway

### Eredivisie
#### League table

| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification or relegation |
| 1 | Feyenoord (C) | 34 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 81 | 30 | +51 | 82 | Champions league group stage |
| 2 | PSV Eindhoven | 34 | 23 | 6 | 5 | 89 | 40 | +49 | 75 | Champions League third qualifying round |
| 3 | Ajax | 34 | 20 | 9 | 5 | 86 | 38 | +48 | 69 | Europa League play-off round |
| 4 | AZ | 34 | 20 | 7 | 7 | 68 | 35 | +33 | 67 | Europa Conference League third qualifying round |
| 5 | Twente (O) | 34 | 18 | 10 | 6 | 66 | 27 | +39 | 64 | Qualification for the European competition play-offs |

#### Results summary

| Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Overall | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Home | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away | Away |
Source: Eredivisie

#### Results by round

| Round | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 |
| Ground | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | A | H | A | H | A | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A | H | H | A | H | A | H | A |
| Result | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | W | L | D | D | D | D | D | D | W | W | W | W | W | W | W | L | D | W | W | L | D | W | W | L |
| Position | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |

#### Matches

The league fixtures were announced on 14 June 2022.

### UEFA Champions League
#### Group stage

The draw for the group stage was held on 25 August 2022.
| Pos | Teamvte | Pld | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts | Qualification | NAP | LIV | AJX | RAN |
| 1 | Napoli | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 20 | 6 | +14 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase | — | 4–1 | 4–2 | 3–0 |
| 2 | Liverpool | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 17 | 6 | +11 | 15 | Advance to knockout phase | 2–0 | — | 2–1 | 2–0 |
| 3 | Ajax | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 11 | 16 | −5 | 6 | Transfer to Europa League | 1–6 | 0–3 | — | 4–0 |
| 4 | Rangers | 6 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 2 | 22 | −20 | 0 | | 0–3 | 1–7 | 1–3 | — |
* 1 2 Tied on head-to-head points. Head-to-head goal difference: Napoli +1, Liverpool −1.

### UEFA Europa League
#### Knockout phase
##### Knockout round play-offs

The knockout round play-offs draw was held on 7 November 2022.

## Statistics
### Appearances and goals

| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Total | Total | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield | KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield | Champions League Europa League | Champions League Europa League |
| No. | Pos | Nat | Player | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals |
| 1 | GK | NED | Maarten Stekelenburg | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 2 | DF | NED | Jurriën Timber | 47 | 2 | 34 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 3 | DF | NGA | Calvin Bassey | 39 | 1 | 20+5 | 1 | 2+4 | 0 | 8 | 0 |
| 4 | MF | MEX | Edson Álvarez | 44 | 4 | 30+1 | 3 | 4+1 | 0 | 8 | 1 |
| 5 | DF | NED | Owen Wijndal | 28 | 0 | 15+5 | 0 | 3+2 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 |
| 6 | MF | NED | Davy Klaassen | 46 | 10 | 21+12 | 8 | 5+1 | 1 | 3+4 | 1 |
| 7 | FW | NED | Steven Bergwijn | 45 | 16 | 28+4 | 12 | 5 | 2 | 8 | 2 |
| 8 | MF | NED | Kenneth Taylor | 44 | 9 | 29+3 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 7+1 | 0 |
| 9 | FW | NED | Brian Brobbey | 44 | 14 | 17+15 | 13 | 2+3 | 1 | 1+6 | 0 |
| 10 | FW | SRB | Dušan Tadić | 47 | 13 | 34 | 11 | 5+1 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 12 | GK | ARG | Gerónimo Rulli | 25 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 |
| 13 | DF | TUR | Ahmetcan Kaplan | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 15 | DF | NED | Devyne Rensch | 36 | 3 | 26 | 3 | 3+1 | 0 | 5+1 | 0 |
| 18 | FW | ITA | Lorenzo Lucca | 16 | 2 | 0+14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 |
| 19 | DF | MEX | Jorge Sánchez | 26 | 3 | 11+6 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3+2 | 0 |
| 20 | MF | GHA | Mohammed Kudus | 42 | 18 | 19+11 | 11 | 3+1 | 2 | 7+1 | 5 |
| 21 | MF | AUT | Florian Grillitsch | 18 | 0 | 4+6 | 0 | 2+1 | 0 | 0+5 | 0 |
| 22 | GK | NED | Remko Pasveer | 22 | 0 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| 23 | FW | NED | Steven Berghuis | 42 | 11 | 25+4 | 9 | 4+1 | 0 | 8 | 2 |
| 25 | DF | NED | Youri Baas | 10 | 0 | 2+4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 |
| 26 | DF | NED | Youri Regeer | 3 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 28 | MF | NED | Kian Fitz-Jim | 4 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 35 | FW | POR | Francisco Conceição | 28 | 1 | 4+15 | 0 | 2+3 | 0 | 0+4 | 1 |
| 37 | FW | DEN | Christian Rasmussen | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 39 | FW | BEL | Mika Godts | 4 | 0 | 0+3 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 41 | MF | NED | Silvano Vos | 3 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 43 | DF | NED | Olivier Aertssen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 57 | DF | NED | Jorrel Hato | 15 | 0 | 6+5 | 0 | 2+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Players sold or loaned out after the start of the season: ||||||||||||
| 3 | DF | NED | Perr Schuurs | 3 | 0 | 1+1 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | BRA | Antony | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| 11 | FW | ARG | Lucas Ocampos | 6 | 0 | 1+3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 |
| 16 | GK | NED | Jay Gorter | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 17 | DF | NED | Daley Blind | 19 | 0 | 11+2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | 0 |
| 27 | MF | NED | Mohamed Ihattaren | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 29 | DF | ARG | Lisandro Magallán | 2 | 0 | 0+2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| 58 | MF | DEN | Victor Jensen | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0+1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Source: Competitive matches

### Goalscorers

| Rank | No | Pos | Nat | Name | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Johan Cruyff Shield | Champions League | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 20 | MF | | Mohammed Kudus | 11 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 18 |
| 2 | 7 | FW | | Steven Bergwijn | 12 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 16 |
| 3 | 9 | FW | | Brian Brobbey | 13 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| 4 | 10 | FW | | Dušan Tadić | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
| 5 | 23 | FW | | Steven Berghuis | 9 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 11 |
| 6 | 6 | MF | | Davy Klaassen | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 10 |
| 7 | 8 | MF | | Kenneth Taylor | 8 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 |
| 8 | 4 | MF | | Edson Álvarez | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 9 | 15 | DF | | Devyne Rensch | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 9 | 19 | DF | | Jorge Sánchez | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 |
| 11 | 2 | DF | | Jurriën Timber | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 11 | FW | | Antony | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 11 | 18 | FW | | Lorenzo Lucca | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | 3 | DF | | Calvin Bassey | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 14 | 35 | FW | | Francisco Conceição | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | Own goal | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | Totals | 86 | 9 | 3 | 11 | 1 | 109 |
Source: Competitive matches

### Clean sheets

| Rank | No | Pos | Nat | Name | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup | Johan Cruyff Shield | Champions League | Europa League | Total |
| 1 | 12 | GK | | Gerónimo Rulli | 7 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 10 |
| 2 | 22 | GK | | Remko Pasveer | 4 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6 |
| Total | Total | Total | Total | Total | 11 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 16 |
Source: Competitive matches

### Disciplinary record

| N | P | Name | Eredivisie | Eredivisie | KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield | KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield | KNVB Cup Johan Cruyff Shield | Champions League Europa League | Champions League Europa League | Total | Total | Total |
| 2 | DF | Jurriën Timber | 3 | | 2 | | | 2 | | 7 | | |
| 3 | DF | Calvin Bassey | | | | | 1 | 2 | | 2 | | 1 |
| 4 | MF | Edson Álvarez | 10 | | 4 | | | 2 | 1 | 16 | 1 | |
| 5 | DF | Owen Wijndal | 2 | | 1 | | | 1 | | 4 | | |
| 6 | MF | Davy Klaassen | 3 | | | | | 1 | | 4 | | |
| 7 | FW | Steven Bergwijn | | | 1 | | | 1 | | 2 | | |
| 8 | MF | Kenneth Taylor | 4 | | 2 | 1 | | 2 | | 8 | 1 | |
| 9 | FW | Brian Brobbey | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 10 | FW | Dušan Tadić | 3 | | 2 | | | 2 | 1 | 7 | 1 | |
| 12 | GK | Gerónimo Rulli | 1 | | 1 | | | | | 2 | | |
| 15 | DF | Devyne Rensch | 2 | 1 | 2 | | | 1 | | 5 | | 1 |
| 17 | DF | Daley Blind | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 18 | FW | Lorenzo Lucca | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | | |
| 19 | DF | Jorge Sánchez | 3 | | 2 | | | 1 | | 6 | | |
| 20 | MF | Mohammed Kudus | 1 | | 1 | | | 2 | | 4 | | |
| 21 | MF | Florian Grillitsch | 2 | | | | | | | 2 | | |
| 23 | FW | Steven Berghuis | 5 | | 2 | | | 1 | | 8 | | |
| 28 | MF | Kian Fitz-Jim | | | 1 | | | | | 1 | | |
| 35 | MF | Francisco Conceição | 3 | | | | | 1 | | 4 | | |
| 57 | DF | Jorrel Hato | 1 | | | | | | | 1 | | |
Source: Competitive matches Only competitive matches = Number of bookings; = Number of sending offs after a second yellow card; = Number of sending offs by a direct red card.