I am used to the pressure at Ajax - Brian Brobbey

Published on: 10 December 2020

New Ajax sensation, Brian Brobbey beleives being at Ajax comes with pressure and is now used to the pressure at the club.

The 19-year-old has risen through the ranks of the Dutch club and now being chased by numerous clubs in Europe.

"At Ajax, there is always pressure, so I'm used to it," he tells Goal in an exclusive interview. "Fortunately, I am a guy who can handle it well.

“It was nice to score in my first game. Beforehand, I was quite nervous, so it makes me feel freer in my head now. Hopefully, I will get more chances soon."

The 18-year-old has long been marked out as a potential first-team star, with his physical gifts and eye for goal drawing comparisons to Romelu Lukaku, given he has dominated defenders with his speed and strength since entering the Ajax academy around the age of six.

However, even though the teenager admires the Inter and Belgium star, he prefers to describe himself as "the new Brian Brobbey".

"I don't think I benefitted much from that [excess strength], because I always played against much older opponents," explains the Amsterdam native, who has scored over 80 club goals since debuting for the Under-17s in March 2017.

The youngest of four brothers who now all play professionally, Brobbey made his debut for Jong Ajax in the second tier of Dutch football at the age of 16, though he initially struggled with the transition to the men's game.

"I had cramps every game for a year," he admits, with head coach Erik ten Hag having noted at the beginning of the current season that Brobbey would only become eligible for playing time with the first team if he could regularly complete 90 minutes.

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