Publications
Partners
Cape Town - Ajax Cape Town CEO Ari Efstathiou has pointed to Rivaldo Coetzee's move to Glasgow Celtic as evidence of the club's successful youth policy.
Coetzee joined Ajax as a 15-year-old, arriving from the Northern Cape town of Kakamas. He went on to make his PSL debut and his Bafana Bafana debut at the age of 17 and has been a regular in the national team since.
His transfer to Brendan Rodgers' Celtic side was completed earlier this week, joining ,among others, Steven Pienaar, Thulani Serero, Daylon Claasen, Eyong Enoh and Thembinkosi Fanteni as players that have departed the Urban Warriors for Europe.
"Our youth academy process has been going for the past 18 years. This is not the first and it is not a fluke, and we will do a lot of these transfers in the years to come," Efstathiou was quoted saying by IOL.
"When you have an academy, you coach the player properly and they get noticed. Rivaldo has been playing in the national team since he was 17."
Coetzee was reportedly sold for £800 000, although the Ajax boss was not confirming this. He is however confident the central defender will prove a success in Scotland.
"It is one of the highest transfers (in the PSL). We made good millions. We are the biggest development team in South Africa. We are a big team. Ajax are all about taking young players and making them big.
"Having a coach like Brendan Rodgers who loves him gives him the edge. He will do wonders in Scotland. We began talking a long time ago. We've been speaking for a while."
