After returning to the Netherlands: ex-BVB talent Rijkhoff excels | OneFootball

Will he finally achieve the long-awaited breakthrough? Former Dortmund top talent Julian Rijkhoff is shining at Almere City, scoring goal after goal. At the end of the season, the 21-year-old striker will return to Amsterdam.

After three years in a BVB shirt, Rijkhoff left the Bundesliga club in February 2024 and rejoined his youth club Ajax Amsterdam. With the Black-and-Yellows’ U19 team, he had previously won the German championship in 2022. In both 2022 and 2023, the Dutchman also finished as the top scorer in the West division of the A-Junior Bundesliga.

However, the forward waited in vain for a chance to prove himself with the senior team. He was not even given the opportunity to show himself in the U23s. Rijkhoff decided to move to Ajax.

Current sporting managing director Lars Ricken (49), who was director of the youth academy at the time, bid farewell to Rijkhoff on the club’s website. In the club’s U19 team, he had played “an impressive role and made a significant contribution to the team’s success.” He concluded with the wish: “We are confident that he will continue to successfully demonstrate his strengths and talent at his new club as well.”

Future uncertain

But Rijkhoff also failed to make his breakthrough with the Dutch record champions. Across all competitions, he made only eleven appearances for Ajax’s first team and was on the pitch for just 88 minutes in total. Most of the time, the 29-time youth international featured for the second team in the second-tier Keuken Kampioen Divisie (KKD). In 42 matches there, he still managed to score 15 goals.

In the summer of 2025, he opted for a loan move to Almere, 25 kilometers away, which, like Jong Ajax, also plays in the second tier. At the club relegated from the Eredivisie, Rijkhoff has been regularly showing his instinct for goal. In 39 competitive matches so far, he has scored 18 times and also provided three assists.

Photo: Getty Images

“It is better to play at the top of the KKD and score your goals in a team that is often better than the opponent,” Voetbal International quotes the former Dortmund player as saying. Next summer, he would have to leave Almere City again, though the club can still secure a return to the Eredivisie through the play-offs. His contract in Amsterdam runs until 2027.

But the final word has not yet been spoken. “In any case, I will not make a rushed decision,” Rijkhoff announces. “Could it be another year at Almere City? Who knows, anything is possible in football,” says the 21-year-old.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇩🇪 here.