Steijn’s soaring confidence in Ajax’s Brazilian striker Leonardo

Maurice Steijn, the former coach of the Amsterdammers, said today that he has very high expectations of Marcos Leonardo after his arrival at Ajax. The Braziliaanse striker, who joins from Al Hilal, has impressed Steijn, who described himself as “a bit immersed in the Braziliaan” and extremely enthusiastic. Ajax completed the deal on Friday, paying close to twenty million euros to secure Leonardo from Al Hilal. The transfer is described as the club’s top acquisition of the window. Steijn told Het Oranje Café, “It is certainly a very good purchase. He made a rather unusual choice to move from Benfica to Saudi-Arabië, but he also performed well there.”

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He added, “If you look at his statistics, he has always scored many goals.” Steijn continued, “He is very versatile, scores with left and right. He is a really good striker. I expect a lot from him.”

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Leonardo follows Caio Henrique as Ajax’s second expensive signing, while Marc‑André ter Stegen is also on the way and the club hopes to add Azzedine Ounahi. Steijn dismissed any comparison of Jordi Cruijff to Sven Mislintat, saying the new arrivals are all quality players. He concluded, “It will be nice to see Ajax spin again at the top,” indicating his optimism that Leonardo will help the Amsterdammers return to the summit of Dutch football.