CHIVU: AJAX AMSTERDAM CAREER IN FOCUS

Christian Chivu attracted a lot of interest from foreign clubs during his time at FC University Craiova in his native Romania. Universitatea Craiova was his second club in his professional football career. Ajax were one of the numerous foreign clubs linked with a move for Chivu. In the end, Dutch club Ajax Amsterdam won the race to sign Chivu in 1999.

At Ajax Amsterdam, Christian Chivu developed into a free-kick specialist and a reliable fullback. Ronald Koeman was his manager at the time and he gave him added responsibility as the captain of the club. During his time as the Ajax captain, they dominated the Dutch top flight with a young team. Apart from him, there were other young players such as Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Wesley Sneijder, Johnny Heitinga, Rafael van der Vaart and Maxwell. Christian Chivu was a key player for Ajax as they came close to securing a place in the last four of the 2002/03 UEFA Champions League season.Chivu and four others left Ajax and would later sign for Inter Milan in the Italian top flight. Apart from him, Maxwell, Ander van der Meyde, Wesley Sneijder and Zlatan Ibrahimovic also left Ajax Amsterdam to sign for the Italian football giants much later. Continue reading “CHIVU: AJAX AMSTERDAM CAREER IN FOCUS”