Ajax have confirmed they are in talks with Jordi Cruyff to succeed Alex Kroes as the club’s technical director after details of the meeting were leaked to the Telegraaf.

The newspaper published a photograph of Cruyff, the 51-year-old son of club legend Johan, meeting managing director Menno Geleen and director of football Marijn Beuker in Barcelona.

The club said Cruyff and his manager Soufian Asafiati were holding talks with the management, but did not disclose further details.

Alex Kroes is due to step down as technical director at the end of the season, but has said he will leave earlier if a replacement can be found.

Zoon van legendarische nummer veertien moet sportief in zwaar weer verkerende club naar rustiger vaarwater loodsen.

Exclusieve foto: geheime ontmoeting in Barcelona tussen Ajax en Jordi Cruijff https://t.co/kxPhjifeyS

— Telesport Voetbal (@televoetbal) November 24, 2025

Ajax have said they want to find a new technical director before naming a permanent successor to John Heitinga, who was sacked three weeks ago following a poor start to the season.

The club go into Tuesday’s Champions League match against Benfica bottom of the table after four straight defeats in which they conceded 14 goals.

Ajax are sixth in the Eredivisie following their 2-1 home defeat to Excelsior under interim coach Fred Grim.

Kroes was originally appointed as chairman 18 months ago, but was suspended within weeks after club bosses accused him of insider trading when he bought 17,000 Ajax shares the week before his nomination was announced.

The financial markets regulator AFM said in April that Kroes had not broken any rules, but criticised the club’s procedures, adding that they had been “significantly improved” in the last year.

The football association KNVB’s licensing committee also investigated the case but did not impose any sanction.