Ajax's 25 major transfers since Johan Cruyff left for Barcelona (Marca)

Juventus' 75 million euro signing of Matthijs de Ligt is just the latest example of the Ajax talent production line proving to be incredibly profitable for the club, and ever since Johan Cruyff's departure to Barcelona in 1973, there has been 25 major transfers involving the Dutch club.

The modus operandi of the Amsterdam club is to give young players a footballing education in the Ajax style, develop people as human beings and then hand them the opportunity to shine on the senior stage.

Make no mistake, their intention isn't to sell these players and use the academy as a money tree if you will, but the economic reality of the footballing pyramid in Europe means that it's a necessary sacrifice.

Talent coming out of Ajax is consistently of a high standard, but every so often you get a crop of players who are simply special.

It happened in the years leading up to Louis van Gaal's 1995 Champions League triumph, and the class of 2019 were mere seconds away from reaching the final of the competition for the first time since 1996.

Frenkie de Jong and De Ligt were both sold for the same fee this summer, with their performances with the Dutch champions nothing short of sensational.

The pair became the joint biggest sales in Ajax's illustrious history, but there are other players throughout history who have impressed enough on ArenA Boulevard to secure moves away.

Cruyff's arrival at Barcelona fundamentally changed the club, with the Ajax DNA almost infiltrating the Spanish giants, and it proved to be a huge influence on Los Cules' greatest period of success in the modern era under Pep Guardiola.

Shortly after Cruyff landed in Catalonia, there was an influx of Dutch players who made the same move.

Johan Neeskens in 1974, Richard Witschge in 1991 and the De Boer brothers, Frank and Ronald, in 1999.

It's not just the Blaugrana who have looked to take advantage of the Amsterdam talent pool though, and several LaLiga Santander clubs have made signings from Ajax, hoping to boost their own chances of success.

Valencia bought Johnny Rep in 1975, Real Betis signed Gerrie Muhren and Finidi George, whilst Real Madrid spent significant sums of money on Wesley Sneijder and Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

Ajax haven't just been raided by Spanish clubs however, with some of their highest profile sales coming with Italian Serie A sides.

Marco van Basten left for AC Milan, Aron Winter for Lazio, whilst Dennis Bergkamp, Nwankwo Kanu and Wim Jonk all signed for Inter.

Clarence Seedorf moved to Sampdoria before achieving success with Real Madrid, Christian Chivu joined Roma, whilst it was Juventus who eventually won the race to sign the sensational Zlatan Ibrahimovic, in circumstances not overly different to De Ligt's recent transfer.

Frank Rijkaard would achieve a lot of success in Italy with Milan, but not before he left Ajax for a spell with Sporting CP, even though he didn't play a single game for the Portuguese club.

As the fiscal climate of football changed at the turn of the millennium, it was clubs from the Premier League who would start to take talent away from the De Toekomst Sports Complex.

Marc Overmars and Thomas Vermaelen signed for Arsenal 17 years apart, Tottenham Hotspur bought Christian Eriksen and it was Liverpool who took the gamble on the fiery Luis Suarez.