Joel Veltman is too young to know much about Ajax’s greatest days.

Be it the golden era of the 1970s, when they won three European Cups in a row, or glory in the Champions League in 1995.

But the legacy of great teams is there, in the aura of the Amsterdam club and the personnel of the coaching staff.

It has helped shape a defender (usually right-back these days) who will face the four-times European and 36-times Dutch champions at the Amex.

Veltman was a ten-year-old from the port city of Ijmuiden, north west of Amsterdam, when he played his way into the famed Ajax academy.

It was there that he learnt many aspects of a game Albion fans see and rely upon today.

He said: “I came to Ajax as a winger, not scouted by staff.

“They call them talent days. You fill in a form with 30, 40 kids. You play games against each other and, if you’re good enough, they write your name on a piece of paper.

“Next day, if you’re good enough again, you have a paper on your doormat which says next year you can come to the academy.

“Of course, I was happy. I was an Ajax fan already when I was young because of my dad.

“Then you come to play in the youth and it’s amazing.

“Everybody has a dream but it doesn’t all start at like ten, 12 years old.

“It’s when you’re like 16, you realise maybe there is a chance to get into professional football.

“When I was 17, 18, you know what’s going on. Can I make it, yes or no?

“From ten til 17, I was just having fun. You don’t think of the first team.”

Youngsters are surrounded by Ajax culture and footballing values.

Veltman ssaid: “That’s what Ajax is famous for.

“Old Ajax players coach the youth. From every team I remember like Heini Otto taught lots of passing, we had Wim Kwakman who was more of a heading coach.

“I remember Frank De Boer in the under-19s as well.

“He was really about you need to have the focus for 95 minutes.

“He was more of a mentor as well.

“Gery Vink was also a guy who could praise you like you are the new Messi but also say you’re not good enough for the Dutch third division.

“Wim Jonk as well. Every gaffer gives you something and that’s what makes it special.

“If you play for Ajax in the youth, everybody is sort of looking up to you.

“I remember at school as well, ‘You play for Ajax, that’s amazing’, that kind of thing.

“The facilities are probably the best.

“It’s in Amsterdam, big city. Around you have the best, most talented players.

“You go to lots of tournaments outside Holland to play against Barcelona, Real Madrid under-12s, something like that.

“So that is quite a big thing in Ajax.”

Asked whether he was aware of the great days as he came through the ranks, he replied: “I would say the 90s is what I remember.

“I was born in 1992 but I know some clips on YouTube or my dad told me how it was.”

Veltman says he has used those Ajax values “a lot” under Graham Potter and now Roberto De Zerbi.

He said: “Everybody knows Ajax’s attacking way is to have the ball.

“Most of the time we had more possession than the opponents, so the ball was your baby, precious. That’s not a big difference.

“There are similarities, especially with the ball.

“Even though there is pressure, you need to be calm on the ball and find the spare guy, with pressure or no pressure.”

But De Zerbi has stretched the boundaries even for an accomplished campaigner like the now 31-year-old former Netherlands international.

He said: “I was used to different tactics at Ajax.

“Normally it was 4-3-3. In an attacking way, you want to find the spare guy, but sometimes when we (Albion) go higher up the pitch, you play two plus three.

“I become a midfielder. I never did that at Ajax.

“That is a big thing for me to improve on, be aware of the space around you as a midfielder.”

Veltman says he naturally feels more comfortable with everybody in front of him even if he is sitting at a restaurant table in a group.

So getting into the thick of it in midfield has been an eye-opener in more ways than one.

“That’s a big thing I have improved, to scan before getting the ball.

“The big players, like Iniesta, Xavi - don’t compare me with them - but they were scanning all the time, even when the ball was on the way to them, they were scanning.

“And then when they had the ball, they knew every possible option. That’s a big thing for me to improve, but I’m getting there.”

These matches against Ajax are a big thing too.

Veltman has been doing plenty of media duties this week and the messages have been flooding in from family, friends and fans in Holland.

He meets his former club at a time when they are, almost unbelievably, in the Eredivisie relegation places.

While he does not see them staying there, he does not enjoy their current plight.

He said: “It hurts a bit, to be honest. Sometimes you go through a big, big ‘crisis’ as they name it now in the papers but ‘downfall’ I would say.

“You need to step up. You need to react.

“This time at Ajax, it’s from top to bottom. A bit messy. A bit tough. And problems everywhere.

“But they won’t be bottom of the league for the rest of the season. I saw their programme with 12 games in a row, without the Europa League, against the smaller clubs, so they will go up eventually.”