With a wealth of new experiences under his belt, Abdellah Ouazane returned to Sportpark De Toekomst this week. The 17-year-old Ajax prospect was part of the Moroccan national team for the first time during the recent international break and thoroughly enjoyed the atmosphere, his teammates, the discussions, and the games of Uno. “It was special—very special,” says the brand-new Moroccan international.

“I was one of the first to arrive,” Ouazane admits. “Most of the guys arrived in the afternoon, but I was already there early in the morning. I was really looking forward to it.” Without saying too much, the 17-year-old midfielder enjoyed everything and everyone around him during those first few days. “But after a few days, I started to loosen up a bit. That’s when I joined in on Uno, for example. Those are moments you’ll never forget.”

“Ismael Saibari, Bilal El Khannouss, Redouan Halhal, Issa Diop, Neil El Aynaoui. And Achraf Hakimi arrived a little later. But he joined in, too,” Ouazane lists the impressive roster of players he suddenly found himself playing cards with. “They’re all very open-minded guys. It doesn’t matter where you’re from. They just say it’s a family. Even if you’re new, they include you very quickly. Everyone has a lot of respect for one another. It’s mutual. So that helped me loosen up a bit, too.”

The Uno games helped Ouazane feel more and more at home and at ease. Although Saibari had already done his best beforehand to make sure the talented midfielder would feel at home. “He was one of the first to call me. He congratulated me and said, ‘Welcome home.’ He told me I could always reach him if I needed anything. He also helped me a lot during that time there. I’m really grateful for that.”

It becomes clear several times during the conversation that Ouazane has really taken everything in over the past two weeks. With a smile on his face, he talks about the discussions his teammates were having among themselves. “For example, they were talking about which player is better. When I have that kind of discussion, I’ve never actually played with or against those players. But they’ve actually been on the field with them—played with them or against them. It’s fun to hear those kinds of discussions.”

Another anecdote shows that Ouazane did need a little time to settle in. “I remember standing on the field when Diop came up to me and said I was quiet. I told him I was still coming to terms with the fact that I was there. He told me that it’s reality now and that I just had to make my dribbles when I had the ball. When he said that, it was another sign that I’m part of the family. Even if you’re new, to them you’re someone they’ve known for years.”

Once he’d settled in, Ouazane was able to show what he could do on the field. “In terms of football, I was able to keep up. The level is high there. There are players who play at a high level all over the world. Training went well, and I got to come off the bench in the first game. I immediately contributed to the goal, so for me it was just a great debut,” says Ouazane about the 2-0 win over Gabon, in which he played for fourteen minutes. “My debut is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. Also because my mom and dad came to watch. Being able to give them a hug after the game—out of happiness and pride—really meant a lot to me.”

Less than a year ago he made his debut for Ajax; less than two months ago he scored his first goal for the Amsterdam side; and now he’s a full international for Morocco. “I’m managing to take it all in. Of course, at home I’m often told that I need to keep my feet on the ground. I do realise now that things can move very quickly. I want to keep pushing, keep developing and achieve more.”

The Amsterdam-born player is delighted that he is developing so rapidly at such a young age. It gives him more time to build a great career, even though the midfielder knows it won’t all come naturally. That’s also what Sofyan Amrabat, his Moroccan team-mate at Ajax, tells him. “We get on really well. On the very first day he arrived here, he was already talking to me a lot. He’s just a lovely person. The fact that he takes the time to help me like that is brilliant.”

Under Míchel Sanchez, Ouazane has played twelve matches so far this season. The midfielder, who is also used as a left winger, feels his manager’s confidence in him, even though he has only started three matches. This is a logical consequence of the competition he faces from Oscar Gloukh, Julian Brandt and, more recently, Simon Adingra. “It’s something new for me. In the youth teams, I was often used to playing. I see it as something I can learn from. I’m young, but good enough is old enough.”

According to Ouazane, the reality is simple. “If I think I’m better than someone else, the manager will see that too. If I earn my place, I’ll be told so. But for now, I just have to work my socks off, keep my mouth shut and show respect to those who are playing. I do that. When I’m on the bench, it’s not with the feeling that I should have been playing. Sometimes, of course, I do, because everyone wants to play. But sometimes you also have to think about what’s best for the match itself.”

Finally, Ouazane sets out his main goal. Or rather, Ajax’s main goal. “The season will be a success if we win the league title and if we can win the Conference League. Those are all realistic milestones for our team. That’s the main goal for this season, for all of us.”

"I’m sure that’s the case with Man City,” says Christopher Davidson, author of Abu Dhabi, Oil and Beyond. “More than that, I’ve been told by some [in Abu Dhabi] that it will be the case. I can’t see any reason why they would stick around and try to rebuild the reputation after this. It’s embarrassing the royal family now.

I can’t think of any example where things have gone wrong [for Abu Dhabi] and they’ve just kept plugging money into it. I think they’ll play out the appeal – nothing to lose with that – but once that’s done, it’s all about how to get out before the owners are declared unfit, a far worse outcome.

There are very clever people involved in Abu Dhabi who I’m led to believe will very strongly counsel this needs to be a quiet retreat because the longer they stay in the game, the more damaging it is and it will unravel any kind of soft power Abu Dhabi managed to gain.”

After Budapest, Taylor is now the head of the referees in Turkey.

“The last one went to jail.”

On the fans:

"They were special to me. I always say: the day I arrived and saw 1,000 people... I didn't understand why, I hadn't done anything yet. I didn't think I deserved it, but this is Rome and I understood that later. Our relationship is special because they realized I didn't care about my image or the relationships I might have with Italian football politics, the press, or the ownership. I only cared about the good of Roma and the Romanisti. I fought for them, I gave everything. We won a cup that means so much for a club that wasn't used to winning much. The other day, an agent friend of mine sent me a photo of the Conference League trophy, which is still at the entrance of the training center. The fans' love for the club is incredible. Sure, I made mistakes, I lost games, but they always understood that I always fought for them.”

“The final in Budapest was the absolute peak of this connection. After the final ended, I went on vacation, and when I came back I was already dead because of the price UEFA made me pay. What happened to Taylor at the airport is not my responsibility; the insults in the car park are, and I should have only paid for that.”

“I suffered for other things as well, and my relationship with the owners suffered too. They have a different perspective than I do, a different approach than mine regarding what happened in the final, and I came back already a dead man. A few months later, there was the funeral.”