Can Ajax keep its shiniest star?

Foreign clubs are beckoning Luis Suarez, Ajax's captain, top scorer and fans' favourite. At 22, he has outgrown the Dutch premier league.

A 7-0 victory by Ajax over Willem II in Sunday's Dutch premier league match showed Suarez at his very best. The Uruguayan striker scored three goals and had three assists. Now everyone in Amsterdam is asking: can Ajax hold on to Luis Alberto Suárez Diaz, the most interesting player in Dutch football?

With this year's league title out of reach Ajax is already looking to next season and says it wants Suarez to play a central role. Ajax hopes to keep the 22-year-old striker with the team for at least one more season, but the player himself is less than certain.

"Nothing can be predicted in football. It is clear that I want to play in a bigger competition in the future. If an opportunity presents itself, I will grab it," Suarez told reporters after Sunday's 7-0 win over Willem II.

Untouchable

Since the departure of Klaas Jan Huntelaar to Real Madrid last winter, Luis Suarez is the new leader of Ajax. Suarez is known for his individualism, his intuitive dribbles and his dives after alleged offences by players from the opposing team. He is also temperamental sometimes giving the ball away and missing chances. But on his good days he is untouchable, in control of the ball and a pleasure to the eye. He has scored 20 of Ajax' 70 goals and has 14 assists.

It has been clear for months that Suarez has outgrown the Dutch premier league, which is a breeding ground for players who move on to stronger competitions, namely in Germany, Italy, England and Spain. Ajax last won the Champions League in 1995 and is not even sure it will compete in the tournament next season. At the same time, Barcelona, the club of Suarez' dreams, is well on its way to the semi-finals of that European competition.

Both Ajax' board and manager Marco van Basten have expressed their desire to keep the striker instead of adding him to the list of young star players like Ryan Babel, Wesley Sneijder, John Heitinga and Huntelaar who have left Ajax in the past two years.

Suarez, who was born in 1987, came to Ajax in the summer of 2007, after only one season at Dutch club FC Groningen. Groningen had brought him to Europe from the Uruguayan capital Montevideo, but had to let him go after a fierce conflict with his agent Daniel Fonseca.

On Sunday against Willem II no one could come near Suarez. He dominated the pitch, scored 3 of the 7 goals and assisted Dario Cvitanich in making the opening goal after less than two minutes. Even the opponent's coach, Alfons Groenendijk, had to admit he enjoyed watching the Uruguayan play.

New contract

After the game, Suarez seemed reluctant to answer questions in Dutch. "I am mostly happy we won. Three points is what matters," he said, following the media training guide rules. But after a shower, he was more willing to talk about his status in Spanish.

"Let me begin by saying that I am having a good time here," Suarez said. "But Ajax has to acknowledge that I am performing well. If Ajax wants to keep me satisfied, they will have to offer me a new contract," he said about the agreement that expires in the summer of 2012.

"Ajax is a major club, but this is football. We all thought Klaas Jan Huntelaar would be here until the end of this season, but he got a fantastic offer and left. Of course: if you get a chance like that, you take it."

The past has shown that Ajax is all but powerless when European top clubs have their mind on a talent like Suarez. Promises from players who said they were committed have proved worthless. Both Ryan Babel and Wesley Sneijder, for example, pledged to stay with the team for another season in 2007. But when Liverpool and Real Madrid respectively showed their interest, the love for Ajax soon dried up.

His appearance for Ajax has earned Suarez the interest of several European top clubs. His agent, Fonseca, who played for Napoli, AS Roma en Juventus, is not only a living legend in Uruguay, but he also has a reputation as a tough negotiator. Before getting Suarez' previous club to agree to sign a new five-year contract, coffee cups suffered in the meeting. And no less than one year later, he forced a transfer to Ajax. If, for example, Suarez' dream club Barcelona came knocking, Ajax will have to start looking for a new captain, goal scorer and public pet.

In an interview with Dutch television after Sunday's match, the reporter congratulated him on his command of the Dutch language. "But I speak excellent English as well," Suarez replied, not bothering to add how good his native Spanish is.