Ajax confirmed that caretaker manager Fred Grim will not lead Ajax for the rest of the season, which means that the club hope to appoint a new permanent manager soon. Erik ten Hag has rejected the move, so who's left?
Flashscore lists six candidates who could potentially be targets for the club.
Dream candidates: Iñigo Pérez, Xavi
Kicking off the list are two Spaniards: Rayo Vallecano's Inigo Perez and Barcelona icon Xavi.
Iñigo Pérez was already an internal candidate after Francesco Farioli left Ajax last summer. Director of Football Marijn Beuker is a known fan of the 37-year-old Spaniard, who has led Rayo Vallecano since February 2024. In 74 games across all competitions, Pérez's Vallecano won 28 and lost 24, scoring 91 goals and averaging 1.43 points per game.
Pérez has impressed in La Liga with his pressing tactics and fast-paced attacking style of play, helping Rayo Vallecano reach European football for the first time in 25 years in his first full year as manager.
Ajax's other dream candidate is FC Barcelona icon Xavi, who's no stranger to the Amsterdam giants. Before Farioli was appointed as Ajax manager in 2024, Ajax reportedly had a lengthy conversation with Xavi, who was enamoured by the stories of Beuker and Kelvin de Lang, Ajax's Head of Scouting.
Back then, Xavi rejected the move and prioritised a sabbatical after five years as manager of Al Sadd and FC Barcelona. That is now over 18 months ago, and Ajax have a special trump card that could sway Xavi.
Former FC Barcelona and Ajax manager Louis van Gaal is currently an advisor to Ajax's Supervisory Board, the club's second-highest organ. Xavi and Van Gaal are close friends and have stayed in contact since the latter handed Xavi his Barcelona debut as Barcelona manager in 1998.
Realistic candidates: Paul Simonis, Mark van Bommel
A more realistic option for Ajax is former Go Ahead Eagles manager Paul Simonis.
The 40-year-old Simonis rose to fame in the Netherlands during the 2024/25 season, when Go Ahead Eagles won the KNVB Beker, their first major trophy since the 1930s, under Simonis. Like Pérez, Simonis achieved this in his first full year as manager. His performance at the Eagles got Simonis on the shortlist to replace Farioli in the summer of 2025.
Simonis laid the foundation for Go Ahead Eagles' success that has brought the club to a respectable 21st place in the UEFA Europa League in the first European group stage in club history.
Whether that's enough for Simonis to be a top candidate is yet to be seen; Simonis was fired at Wolfsburg last Sunday after a disastrous start to the season, which saw the Wolves win just two of Simonis' twelve games in charge. German outlet Sky Sport reported that Simonis had already been in contact with Ajax before his dismissal, however...
Another Dutch option for the club, though somewhat less realistic, is Mark van Bommel. The former PSV manager has been out of a job since leaving Royal Antwerp in the summer of 2024, one year after winning the club's first Pro League title since 1957.
Van Bommel is an unlikely option because of his history with rivals PSV. The former Barcelona, Bayern and Milan midfielder played 274 games for the club and started his managerial career in Eindhoven, where his tenure lasted 18 months and yielded no trophies.
That makes him a riskier option, but with Van Bommel having had no job since mid-2024, it's less likely he'll pass up on the opportunity to get his career going again.
Dark horse: Will Still, Edin Terzic
Two unlikely candidates who could potentially still be interesting for Ajax are Will Still and Edin Terzic.
Still was recently fired from his job at Southampton after two successful stints at Ligue 1 outfits Stade Reims and RC Lens. His time at the Saints was a disaster, with just four wins in 16 games in charge, but the Belgian Englishman, who's also fluent in Dutch, showed his potential in France. However, the question is whether or not he wants to leave England so shortly after returning for his partner.
Edin Terzic left Borussia Dortmund after reaching the UEFA Champions League final in 2024 and hasn't landed a job since. The German-Croatian Terzic won 75 and lost 29 of his 128 games in charge of Dortmund. He's been away from football, but could he choose to revive his career by leading a complex project like Ajax?
