Ajax Sign Femke Liefting on Loan from Chelsea

Ajax have moved to strengthen their goalkeeping department with the loan signing of Chelsea stopper Femke Liefting for the 2026/27 campaign, handing the Dutch youngster a return to familiar ground at a crucial point in her career.

The deal, announced on the club’s official channels on Friday morning, sends the 21-year-old back to the Azerion Vrouwen Eredivisie after an interrupted 18-month spell in England that never quite caught fire.

A talent circling back to where it started

Liefting’s story has always been rooted in Dutch football. She broke through at VV Alkmaar before crossing to neighbours AZ in 2023, quickly establishing herself as one of the most promising young goalkeepers in the league. Her sharp reflexes and command of the box did not go unnoticed. Chelsea, then reigning Barclays Women’s Super League champions, moved decisively and secured her signature in January 2025.

The transfer looked like a fast track to the elite. Instead, injuries got in the way. Foot and hip problems stalled her progress at Kingsmeadow, limiting her opportunities just as she needed rhythm and continuity. A loan spell at Newcastle United last season finally gave her some much-needed minutes, but not the sustained run that defines a young goalkeeper’s development.

Now comes a reset. And it comes at Ajax.

Ajax bet on potential and experience

For Ajax, this is a calculated move: a goalkeeper who is still only 21, yet already tested in the Vrouwen Eredivisie and exposed to the standards of a WSL giant.

Technical manager Dolf Roks made the club’s thinking clear, saying Liefting is “a talented goalkeeper who has already proven her quality in the Vrouwen Eredivisie” and highlighting the “valuable experience at the highest level” she picked up at Chelsea. Ajax expect her to add “experience and quality” to the squad for the coming season.

The fit is obvious. Ajax get a keeper hungry for games, with a point to prove and a career to re-ignite. Liefting gets a stage she knows well, at a club that expects to compete on all fronts.

A decisive season in a long Chelsea contract

Liefting remains under contract at Chelsea until the summer of 2028, so this is no farewell. It is an audition. A season to show she can stay fit, command a defence, and turn promise into reliability.

Regular game time is no longer a luxury for her; it is a requirement. Back in the Eredivisie, in an Ajax shirt, she now has a full season to remind both Chelsea and the rest of Europe why they rated her so highly in the first place.