AZ will say goodbye to its first goalkeeper at the end of the season, the usually well-established X account reports AZAlerts. The 31-year-old Australian has an expiring contract and can therefore look for a new employer without a transfer. The Alkmaarders already have the successor to the 81-time Australian international in the person of the talented Rome Jayden Owusu Oduro, it is reported.
Ryan was signed by AZ during the winter break of the 2022/23 season. The club paid a modest transfer fee of half a million euros to take over the well-refined bottom line from FC Copenhagen, shortly after he became Australia’s first goalkeeper in action at the World Cup in Qatar. The Socceroos survived a group with France, Tunisia and Denmark, but failed in the eighth finals against future world champion Argentina.
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Since then, Ryan has played 56 matches for AZ in all competitions, finishing fourth in the Eredivisie in his first year and reaching the semi-finals of the Conference League. West Ham United, the later winner, was a size too big for the Alkmaarders. Ryan distinguished himself in the quarter-finals of that tournament by reversing the efforts of Jan Vertonghen and Killian Sardella in the penalty series against Anderlecht.
Talent
Judging from the reports from AZAlerts, the talented Owusu-Oduro may show himself as the first goalkeeper next season. The 19-year-old goalkeeper was part of the AZ Under-19 team last season, which impressively won the UEFA Youth League. This season he mainly plays his matches for Jong AZ in the Kitchen Champion Division, but in the absence of the injured Ryan he was allowed to make his debut in the main squad in December. In total, Owusu-Oduro has now made seven appearances in the AZ first team.
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