Youri Baas

Youri Baas came through Ajax's academy at De Toekomst after starting out at OVV Oostvoorne and Excelsior, and he made his mark with the reserves first: 50 appearances for Jong Ajax in the Eerste Divisie before his first-team promotion in 2022. Sent to NEC Nijmegen for the 2023–24 season, Baas made 25 league appearances and scored three goals, and he helped the club reach the KNVB Cup final, where NEC lost 1–0 to Feyenoord.

He returned to Ajax for 2024–25 and converted the loan year into a lasting foothold in the squad, a season capped by two distinctions: a place in the Eredivisie Team of the Month for September 2024, and the club's Talent of the Year award, known as the Marco van Basten Award, presented in May 2025. The Rinus Michels Award for Ajax Player of the Year went to Kenneth Taylor for the same campaign. In December 2024, Baas signed a contract extension with Ajax running until 2028.

Left-footed and still only in his early twenties, Baas has already worked his way through the Dutch youth pyramid, with caps at under-15, under-16, under-17, under-19, under-20 and under-21 level.