From Ajax to afrobeats: How Jurrien Timber & Ryan Gravenberch's ex-team-mate ELIKIA quit football for a career in music

It's estimated that fewer than five percent of academy ballers will go on to play the game at the highest level. Of the 95% that don't make it, you'll probably never hear of them again. Elikia Mbinga, AKA ELIKIA, is out to make sure that he won't suffer that fate, having left football behind in his quest to make it as an afrobeats artist.

The 25-year-old spent four years in Ajax's famed academy system, playing and developing alongside a number of kids who have gone on to become household names, only to be released at the age of 17. But he has not let that setback stop him chasing his dreams, albeit in an entirely different field.

After making the brave decision to call time on his football career at 21, Mbinga is now pursuing his other great passion: music. As he reinvents himself as a star of the afrobeats scene, ELIKIA has no regrets about the way things have panned out.

Elite surroundings

Mbinga's potential as a footballer is evident in the fact he spent four years in Ajax's world-renowned academy after joining the Dutch powerhouse from hometown club PEC Zwolle in 2014.

A silky, attack-minded midfielder, he would eventually become captain of an Under-16s side that also featured the likes of brothers Jurrien and Quinten Timber, Ryan Gravenberch and Brian Brobbey, who are all starring in the Premier League today for Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Liverpool and Sunderland, respectively.

Even in that age group, playing for the most successful club in the Netherlands came with pressure. "Of course, they ask a lot from you. When you practice and everything, the trainers are very strict," ELIKIA tells GOAL. "They always want the Champions League level. I think it's good because you build that mentality and resilience. No matter what, if you play for Ajax, you always have to win.

"You go to tournaments and you play against Barcelona, Bayern and the craziest academies, and they expect you to do your best, but they also expect you to win. There's this pressure, and it shapes you in a kind of way."

A different trajectory

While that clutch of his fellow former Ajax hopefuls would go on to reach the very highest level, with all of them now Netherlands internationals, Mbinga's career - and life - would take a different trajectory.

In 2018, a change in coaching staff at Under-17 level would bring a change in his fortunes, as it was deemed that his development had stalled. "I was very good technically and had big talent. Outside of the pitch, I was also doing the right things. That's why they made me captain. That's very positive for me to look back at," ELIKIA tells GOAL.

"Of course, eventually it's all about development, and their [his ex-team-mates'] development went in one direction while my development went into music.

"The reason why I stopped [at Ajax] was because there was a lot of competition. I played in midfield. My direct competition was Ryan [Gravenberch], but not only Ryan - it was Kenneth Taylor and, at the time, Quinten Timber, because they also played in my position. I'm not ashamed of just doing my best. The competition was heavy.

"After year four, there was a different coach and the coach didn't really see it in me and saw it in other players. That's also really important in football: one season the coach sees it in you, and the next season a new coach doesn't see it. For me, that was also the case. The new trainer didn't really see it, so I had to make the decision: do I want to stay or do I want to leave and develop myself? I chose to leave."

Despite having the opportunity to join the youth setups at leading European clubs like Juventus and Bayer Leverkusen, Mbinga chose to return to his hometown Zwolle. "I wanted to go live back home because I was in a host family, living in Amsterdam," he says. "It was a great experience, but because you're still young, you want to go back home, especially when things aren't going really well. I wanted to have that environment."