Van der Vaart: 'He is potentially the very best at Ajax, but it is no longer going to happen for him...'

Posted Tuesday, September 08, 2026 by goal imago-sport-1077733340.jpg Rafael van der Vaart believes Tolu Arokodare has no reason to fear for his place in the Ajax side for now. Two days after the 1-3 defeat to PSV, Rondo on Ziggo Sport looked at the pecking order in the Amsterdam club's attack, where Tolu is currently ahead of Marcos Leonardo and Kasper Dolberg. Tolu started against PSV again on Saturday and levelled at 1-1 after 23 minutes. Van der Vaart therefore found it striking that coach Míchel Sánchez took the striker off early in the second half for Dolberg. "I thought that was a strange substitution. Things were going fine and he had scored. Then trust him and leave him on for once." Theo Janssen is also enthusiastic about Tolu's qualities. "What is nice about this striker is that he can also control balls around the halfway line. He is so calm, can hold people off, lays the ball off simply and then sprints towards goal again. He does not have to do any crazy things at all. I really think he is a good striker." Wim Kieft can also see that the Nigerian forward's style suits what Ajax need. "With the qualities he has, you also have to judge him that way. He is big and strong, you can play the ball into him. You should not expect him to dribble, but what he has to do, he does extremely well." Presenter Wytse van der Goot then asks whether the debate over Ajax's first-choice striker is settled for the time being. Kieft says yes and points out that Marcos Leonardo has made too little of an impression so far, although he does not yet want to make a definitive judgement on the Brazilian. Van der Vaart, though, still has faith in Leonardo. "I still believe in him. What Jordi Cruyff said about him, I thought was fair: 'We are happy that he is standing where he has to stand, because he gets those chances.' I have not yet found the ammunition to defend it all, but I do think he is really going to score a lot." Dolberg also comes up, having come on against PSV as a substitute just like Leonardo. "Of course, you still also have Dolberg, who in terms of potential is the very best," says Van der Vaart. "Only somehow it is no longer going to happen for him."