The 21-year-old Poku was part of the AZ youth academy from 2019 and won the Youth League in 2023. In the 5-0 win against Hajduk Split, he scored two goals.
In the first of AZ, he scored six goals in 79 games and was good for fourteen assists. On Sunday it became clear that Poku had played his last game for the Alkmaar club. At his switch in the match against FC Groningen (4-1) he was in tears And he thanked the supporters.
Poku: “When the supporters called my name, my years shot through my head. My development, with highlights and challenging moments I went through, came by. I have always felt the support of the club. I can’t imagine a better place to flow from the youth than here. ”
Champions League
Last night he placed on Instagram A post in which he confirmed his farewell. After a medical inspection, the contract was signed with the German top club. Poku enters the Champions League with Leverkusen. In 2024 the team became national champion.
“The way in which he said goodbye to the supporters and the players and Staf shows that the club is also deep in his heart at Ernest,” says football affairs director Max Huiberts on the AZ website. “With its specific qualities that are of great importance in contemporary football, we believe that a promising career is ahead of Ernest.”
Fourth top transfer
AZ never makes announcements about the amount of the transfer fee, but other media report that the Germans would have put ten million euros on the table for Poku. With bonuses, this amount can still be two million higher.
Poku still had a contract for one season and did not want to sign up, making a transfer a logical consequence. After Ruben van Bommel, Jayden Addai and David Møller Wolfe, he is the fourth AZ player in a short time who leaves for an amount of over ten million euros.