Ajax told new wonderkid signing will be ‘one of the fastest players’ in Dutch football

Ajax beat off competition from West Ham to complete the signing of Carlos Borges from Manchester City.
The 19-year-old Portugal under-19 international, who named compatriot Cristiano Ronaldo as his idol, has penned a five-year contract with the Dutch giants.
Borges, renowned for his electric pace, had been with Man City since arriving from Sporting CP’s youth academy in 2014 but despite regularly training with Pep Guardiola’s first-team squad the Sintra-born winger failed to break through.
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His numbers at youth level for City — across various age groups (U18, U19 and U21) — are impressive. Borges leaves having bagged 55 goals and creating further 42 across 79 matches in all competitions.
This naturally saw interest from several clubs with the newly-crowned UEFA Conference League champions West Ham reportedly close to acquiring his signature a few weeks ago. Ajax, who are in rebuild mode, swopped in and can now count on the forward in their forthcoming campaign.
The Amsterdammers sporting director Sven Mislintat is excited about Borges’ potential, especially when it comes to going one-on-one with defenders, as well as offering insight into how the deal came about.
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“In the way of competition it was quite close with other clubs, especially with one club from the Premier League. But in the moment we could enter the race so Carlos understood immediately what we are, what we stand for and what is possible here,” he said.
‘I give my all for the team. That’s what I do!’ ?
— AFC Ajax (@AFCAjax) August 3, 2023
“He’s a fantastic boy. He’s lightning quick, I think he will be one of the fastest players in the Eredivisie for sure. He’s super brave, kind of a special player that can make a really good difference in dribbling situations and try to solve problems in the final third, being more or less a threat with every single action, it’s always full speed. I’m quite happy to add him to the squad. He has some real weapons to win games.”