Youri Baas (born 17 March 2003) is a Dutch professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for club

Ajax Ajax may refer to: Greek mythology and tragedy * Ajax the Great, a Greek mythological hero, son of King Telamon and Periboea * Ajax the Lesser, a Greek mythological hero, son of Oileus, the king of Locris * Ajax (play), ''Ajax'' (play), by the an ...

Club career

Early career and Jong Ajax

Born in

Oostvoorne Oostvoorne is a village in the Dutch province of South Holland. It is a part of the municipality of Voorne aan Zee, and lies about north of Hellevoetsluis. In 2001, the town of Oostvoorne had 5,403 inhabitants, the built-up area of the town was ...

, Baas began his football career with local club OVV before moving to the youth department of

Excelsior Excelsior may refer to: Arts and entertainment Literature and poetry * "Excelsior" (Longfellow), an 1841 poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow * "Excelsior", an 1877 picture book in verse by Bret Harte, published as an advertisement for the Sa ...

in 2012. He joined the youth academy of Ajax in 2017. Baas made his official debut with

Jong Ajax Jong Ajax (; ), also referred to as Ajax II or Ajax 2, is a Dutch association football team. It is based in Amsterdam and competes in the Dutch Eerste Divisie. Jong Ajax is the only reserve team to have won a title in Dutch professional foot ...

in a 2–2

Eerste Divisie The Eerste Divisie (; ) is the second-highest tier of football in the Netherlands. It is linked with the top-level Eredivisie via promotion/relegation systems. It is also known as the Keuken Kampioen Divisie due to sponsorship reasons, while ...

tie with

De Graafschap Vereniging Betaald Voetbal De Graafschap, simply known as De Graafschap () is a professional association football club based in Doetinchem, Netherlands. The team competes in the , the second level of the Dutch football league system. Founded o ...

on 11 December 2020, coming on as a substitute in the 86th minute for Naci Ünüvar. On 26 March 2021, he signed a contract extension keeping him in

Amsterdam Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...

until 2024.

Ajax

Baas made his first-team debut for Ajax on 28 August 2022, appearing in an

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

match against

FC Utrecht Football Club Utrecht () is a Dutch professional association football, football club based in Utrecht. The club competes in the Eredivisie, the top tier of Dutch football league system, Dutch football, and plays its home matches at the Stadion ...

, which Ajax won 2–0. During the 2022–23 season, he made a total of 10 appearances for the senior team across the Eredivisie,

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

, and

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

Loan to NEC

For the 2023–24 season, Baas joined

NEC is a Japanese multinational information technology and electronics corporation, headquartered at the NEC Supertower in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. It provides IT and network solutions, including cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), Inte ...

on loan. The loan proved successful as he featured regularly, making 27 league appearances and scoring 3 goals from his defensive position. He also helped NEC reach the KNVB Cup final, where they finished as runners-up to

Feyenoord Feyenoord Rotterdam () is a Netherlands, Dutch professional association football, football club based in Rotterdam, which plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football league system, Dutch football. Founded as Wilhelmina in 1908, the ...

Return to Ajax

Baas returned to Ajax for the 2024–25 season and established himself as a regular starter, primarily playing on the left side of central defence. During the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

group stage match away to

Slavia Prague Sportovní klub Slavia Praha – fotbal (Sports Club Slavia Prague – Football, ), commonly known as Slavia Praha or Slavia Prague, is a Czech professional football club in Prague. Founded in 1892, they are the second most successful club in t ...

on 3 October 2024, Baas received a second yellow card shortly after the hosts had equalised, resulting in his dismissal as Ajax held on for a 1–1 draw. On 20 December 2024, Ajax announced that Baas had signed a new contract extension, tying him to the club until 30 June 2028.

International career

Baas gained several caps for Netherlands national youth team, most notably seven caps for the U17 side. In March 2025 he was called up to the senior Netherlands squad for the 2024–25 UEFA Nations League quarter-final matches against

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

on 20 and 23 March 2025.

Career statistics

Club

References

External links

Profile
at the AFC Ajax website *
Ons Oranje U17 Profile
* 2003 births Living people Footballers from South Holland Dutch men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Netherlands men's youth international footballers Eredivisie players Eerste Divisie players Jong Ajax players AFC Ajax players NEC Nijmegen players 21st-century Dutch sportsmen {{Netherlands-footy-defender-stub