His journey
Arriving at Ajax from KRC Genk in January 2023, Mika Godts joined the Amsterdam giants as a promising yet raw 17-year-old winger. The young Godts had gained valuable experience with Genk's Under-23s in the Challenger Pro League, the Belgian second tier, where he'd scored 7 goals in 19 games right before joining Ajax.
Instead of immediately throwing him into the deep, Ajax let Godts adjust to life in Amsterdam in their Under-23 side in the Dutch second tier. The Amsterdam giants were in the middle of a tumultuous year - a hopeless UEFA Champions League campaign, a fired coach, unrest within the squad, and still no replacement for the disgraced Marc Overmars a year after his dismissal. The state of the club at the time of Godts' arrival was dire.
Nevertheless, Mika Godts made waves in Ajax's youth ranks. A strong start with Jong Ajax meant that Godts was handed his first-team debut just three months into his Ajax career, replacing captain Dusan Tadic in Ajax's 4-0 win over Fortuna Sittard on April 9th, 2023.
Godts quietly developed in 2023-24, making 16 senior appearances and nearly hitting double-digit goal contributions for Jong Ajax in an injury-hit campaign, but then came manager Francesco Farioli and the 2024-25 season. Godts became a centrepiece of the Italian's side - which came agonisingly close to winning a 38th league title in club history - upping his match tally from 16 to 47 and contributing to 15 goals in a defensively minded Ajax team, while also extending his contract until 2029.
Godts took two steps forward in 2024-25, but tripled this in 2025-26 - his absolute breakout season. As Ajax returned to its dismal ways by hopelessly crashing out of the UEFA Champions League and struggling to even clinch a direct ticket to a European competition, Godts stepped up as the only true bright spot for the Amsterdam giants.
The 20-year-old dribbler has become an all-around star, adding a lethal layer of efficiency to his game and becoming the absolute leader of the Ajax squad. After 29 Eredivisie games, Godts stands at 16 goals and 11 assists, making him the co-MVP of the Eredivisie with Feyenoord's Ayase Ueda (25 goals, 2 assists) and leading Ajax in both categories by a country mile - Wout Weghorst (7 goals) and Oscar Gloukh (6 assists) come close, but could also not be farther away from the Belgian's production.
His absolute highlight came last weekend, in Ajax's away game at NAC Breda. With Ajax battling for the second and last direct UEFA Champions League ticket, Godts took his team by the hand with an absolute world-class goal that saw Godts glide past Clint Leemans, Raul Paula, Fredrik Oldrup Jensen, Leemans again, and goalkeeper Daniel Bielica like it was nothing.
His profile
Mika Godts is a skilled, hands-on left winger who likes to look up the one-on-one, shying away from nothing and no one. His lightweight feet create plenty of goalscoring opportunities, where he gets to show his tidy finishing and newfound goalscoring prowess, while his playmaking abilities have taken an incredible leap and are now among the best in the business.
The 20-year-old has attempted more dribbles (170) than any other Eredivisie player, completing 79 (46.5)% of them - the 13th-highest percentage among forwards from Europe's top 10 leagues (min. 100 dribbles attempted), while his 170 attempts are the fifth-most among all players from Europe's top 10 leagues.
In this aspect, Godts has improved from last season, when the Belgian completed 46.5% of his 117 attempted dribbles in the Eredivisie (29 games).
The added layer of efficiency shows in Godts' number when going for goal. Godts took 50 shots in the Eredivisie during the 2024-25 season, with a conversion rate of just 8%, ranking him 102nd among Eredivisie players with at least 20 attempts. In the 2025-26 season, Godts is already up to 75 total shots, while upping his conversion rate to a whopping 21.3%, shooting him up to 11th.
Adding to that: his 151 minutes per goal in 2025-26 aren't even in the same stratosphere as his 413 minutes per goal in 2024-25.
His playmaking abilities have taken a similar leap. Godts created just 21 chances (654 total passes) last season, ranking him T-107th among all Eredivisie players. In 2025-26, this number has jumped up to 72 chances created (1010 total passes), ranking him third overall. In relative numbers, Godts has gone from creating one chance every 31 passes to creating one chance every 14 passes - a ludicrous improvement.
His off-the-ball work has seen an uptick in numbers, too, with Godts going from 63 possessions won in 2024-25 to 106 in 2025-26, numbers that include more interceptions (from 5 to 11), possessions won in the middle third (34 to 44), and tackles won (12 to 17).
His next step
While having explicitly stated that he wishes to stay at Ajax to win at least one trophy with the fallen giants, a season like this will have Mika Godts high up the list of every European powerhouse. And according to reports, that is indeed the case.
Manchester United allegedly expressed their interest in March already, while several reports now say that the Red Devils are just one of many clubs chasing him, with RB Leipzig, FC Barcelona, Atlético Madrid, Arsenal, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Newcastle United, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Chelsea all potential suitors, too, and the latter two reportedly watching him from the stands during Ajax's 2-0 win over NAC and, along with FC Barcelona, attending this weekend's clash with PSV.
Would a move perhaps come too soon, though? Is one season with 10 combined goals and assists enough to make the leap? History tells us that it is with Ajax starlets. These moves have had mixed results, with success rates ranging from Donny van de Beek's tedious tenure at Manchester United to Frenkie de Jong's record-breaking time at FC Barcelona.
After Jordi Cruyff took over as Ajax's technical director in February, reports have emerged that the club still sees room for improvement in Godts and would like to keep the Belgian maverick around. Only a "massive" offer would tempt Ajax into selling Godts, who once again expressed his love for the club after the NAC game.
"It is very frustrating that it is not going well with Ajax. This club is so beautiful. I made my breakthrough here, and I owe everything to Ajax," he told ESPN.
The development he's gone through has been astounding to watch, but UEFA Champions League qualification looks highly unlikely for Ajax with three rounds to go. A move guaranteeing Champions League football would therefore be very interesting to the one-time Belgian international.
Will Mika Godts make the step? Time will tell.
Will Mika Godts make waves? Almost certainly.
