Troubled Amin Younes struggling to progress at Ajax

Amin Younes had a great season in 2016/17. The young German attacker was key to Ajax's run to the Europa League final, and made his debut for the German national team during the Confederations Cup, scoring in the semifinal and drawing plaudits for great performances in the process, including from Germany's national team Joachim Löw.

"(Younes) has incredible one-on-one abilities," explained Löw when asked about his decision to call up Younes ahead of the Confederations Cup. "He can take out three players in one go. That's an ability not many of our players has."

However, this season played out entirely differently for the former Gladbach player. Younes, who was a regular starter for the Amsterdam side, had to sit on the sidelines for two months due to a knee injury in November, allowing others to take his place in the team. Since his return to fitness, the attacker only came on as a substitute on four occasions, mostly for a single-digit number of minutes.

Trouble

It doesn't stop there. Younes made the headlines across the continent after refusing coach Erik ten Hag's offer to come on for the last minutes of Ajax's 4-1 home win against Heerenveen. The incident was caught on video, and is now doing the rounds on social media.

"I wanted to reward him for his hard work in training, but he felt that his presence on the pitch wasn't necessary," said ten Hag after the game. "I'll talk to him privately."

As a result, Younes has been demoted to Ajax's reserve team until further notice.

Deal or no deal?

The 24-year-old, whose contract expires at the end of the season, had reportedly agreed a move to Napoli in the January transfer window.

Younes passed his medical, and the deal looked as good as done, but Younes then asked the Italian club to postpone the deal to the summer due to "personal reasons."

Napoli President Aurelio De Laurentiis argues that Younes has reached a pre-agreement with the club.

In mid March of 2018, Younes told Sport 1 that the opposite was the case: "I have not signed a pre-agreement nor a different kind of contract with Napoli that ties me to Napoli from July 1st 2018."

The confusion continued with the attacker also telling Dutch outlet De Telegraaf he might renew his contract at Ajax.

Bundesliga a possible getaway
According to tabloid Bild, Borussia Mönchengladbach are interested in resigning Younes.

The club's hierarchy allegedly believe that putting their trust in the German during this difficult time for him would prove to be worth it. The fact that Younes would also get to play and live close to his hometown of Düsseldorf is also playing a big role in the player's decision, according to the report. Other sides that will reportedly look to secure the 24-year-old attacker's signature include RB Leipzig and Schalke.

Whatever his next opportunity, Amin Younes will probably get another chance to prove himself, and it is most likely to happen back home, close to his family and friends. But given his behavioral record over the last few months, he's going to need to take that with both hands for his career to take off.