Ajax chief Marc Overmars accepts they face losing Matthijs de Ligt and Frenkie de Jong.

The pair have been linked with Barcelona.

"It will be difficult to retain these players who are in the newspapers every day because of the interest of other clubs," Overmars said at a shareholders meeting.

"Last year we managed to keep the group together and we only sold [Justin] Kluivert, but it won't be possible to keep this group of talented players together for the coming years."

With teams like Barcelona interested in the talented youngsters, there is a sense that their exits are inevitable.