There was a time, not so long ago, when it seemed Micky van de Ven was surplus to requirements at a club in the Dutch second division.
That the 22-year-old Wolfsburg defender is now being touted with a move to the Premier League, with Tottenham heavily linked, speaks volumes of the player and the project that enabled the talented defender to flourish.
Van de Ven earned his breakthrough at Volendam following Wim Jonk's appointment in April 2019, with the new regime implementing the same 'Plan Cruyff' principles that proved successful at Ajax.
The teenager had been told by the previous management he was down the pecking order and free to look for another club, but was immediately handed a contract by Jonk's staff, who spotted a "raw diamond" in their under-19s.
Van de Ven quickly grew in stature at a club focused on playing attractive football, creating a performance culture and developing young players through bespoke individual programmes.
Within six months he was a regular starter in the first team in the Dutch second tier.
"We look differently," explains Volendam director Ruben Jongkind, the former head of talent development at Ajax who was responsible for writing and implementing Plan Cruyff.
"We have a lot of experience with youngsters. We look at strengths and we saw a Cruyffian defender - a lot of risk taking, incredible speed, I have never seen something like that.
"We also saw defensively he was a little bit weak, especially in agility, one-on-one defending, heading, some things in the tactical area. They are things we could work on.
"His special weapon was already there. I worked at Ajax with fast players, but this was incredible."
That pace was tested in a 60m dash.
"He ran seven seconds
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