During the summer transfer window, Ajax completed the signing of Caio Henrique from AS Monaco in a transfer worth a reported fee of around €10 million, with various reports claiming that the fee could rise to €14 million through bonuses.

The Brazilian signed a four-year contract with Ajax, keeping him at the Johan Cruijff ArenA until June 2030.

Henrique has made 12 appearances for Ajax in all competitions so far and has started six of the club's seven Eredivisie matches this season.

Against Excelsior, however, Henrique was forced off after 23 minutes due to an injury. Owen Wijndal replaced him and played left-back for the rest of the game, which ended in a 2-2 draw.

In his press conference before Ajax's game against NEC Nijmegen on Saturday night in Amsterdam, Michel Sanchez provided an update on Henrique's current fitness following his injury.

"He is injured and will not be playing for the next few weeks," Michel said, speaking on Henrique's injury.

"He is mainly suffering from a thigh injury. The medical staff needs to investigate this further."

Henrique was not the only left-back Ajax signed during the summer transfer window. The Amsterdammers also signed Jofre Torrents from FC Barcelona.

Ajax signed the 19-year-old on an initial free transfer, although bonuses included in the deal mean Ajax may pay a few million euros to the Spanish giants. Torrents' contract with Ajax runs until June 2030.

Torrents is yet to make an appearance for Ajax. He has been on the bench for several games, but both Henrique and Wijndal seem to be ahead of him in the pecking order.

Wijndal started four of Ajax's games during UEFA Conference League qualifying, scoring against Shelbourne FC. He also started against Willem II in Ajax's 5-1 win over the club from Tilburg.

While Wijndal is obviously more experienced than Torrents, the fact that Ajax was prepared to let him leave in the summer means he probably does not have a long-term future in Amsterdam. Wijndal's contract at Ajax expires in June 2027, and it currently seems unlikely that Ajax will look to extend that deal, given the fact that they signed two left-backs in the summer and were also open to letting him leave.

Wijndal came seemingly very close to leaving Ajax at the end of the summer transfer window, but that transfer collapsed late on, and he ended up staying in Amsterdam.

Torrents only made four appearances for Barcelona before leaving. He is therefore still extremely inexperienced, but Henrique's absence provides Michel with the opportunity to give the Spaniard minutes, allowing him to gain match sharpness and adapt to first-team football.