Manchester United have had mixed success when it comes to previous Eredivisie signings but it looks like all of Erik ten Hag’s potential summer signings will have a Dutch feel about them.
Tyrell Malacia was United’s first summer signing and the Netherlands left-back arrived from Feyenoord to challenge Luke Shaw and Alex Telles.
United’s new number 12 made his debut in the 4-0 pre-season friendly win against Liverpool and the five-time Netherlands international will be be targeting becoming Ten Hag’s first-choice left-back.
With Christian Eriksen secured, Lisandro Martinez looks set to become Manchester United’s next signing of the Ten Hag era.
Fabrizio Romano stated the transfer is ‘imminent’ with Martinez ready to seal his move to Manchester United.
The left-footed Ajax defender is keen to reunite with Ten Hag this summer and rebuffed Arsenal’s interest to secure a move to the Theatre of Dreams.
Frenkie de Jong, who Ten Hag managed at Ajax, is the 52-year-old’s primary target this summer from Barcelona and Romano has stated that United have reached a ‘full agreement’ with the Nou Camp side regarding a fee for the midfield technician.
United’s new boss would also ideally like to sign Ajax forward Antony this summer but the Amsterdam giants are demanding £70m for the former Sau Paulo talent, although the reigning Eredivisie champions may have already identified a possible replacement for the Brazilian.
With Martinez set to become Ten Hag’s next signing and our summer business likely to have some form of Dutch connection, we take a look at Manchester United’s previous Eredivisie signings and how they fared.
Manchester United’s previous Eredivisie signings
Ruud van Nistelrooy
United had to postpone signing the prolific striker by a year after he suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury, but Van Nistelrooy was more than worth the wait.
He scored 150 goals in 219 games for the Red Devils and won the league’s golden boot in the 2002-03 campaign which was the year he got his hands on the Premier League trophy.
The former Netherlands international, who was signed from PSV Eindhoven for a British record £19m, fell out with Sir Alex Ferguson and moved to Real Madrid after five seasons with the Reds.
Raimond van der Gouw
Van der Gouw was signed from Vitesse Arnhem in 1996 and he was an able understudy to Peter Schmeichel for six years.
He only made 60 appearances for the club during that period but he played in an important role in the dressing room both as a player and goalkeeping coach.
Andreas Pereira
After being a product of the PSV academy, Pereira was signed by Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 2012.
The one-time Brazilian international struggled to establish himself in the first team at Old Trafford and had loan spells with Granada, Valencia, Lazio and Flamengo.
After making his debut in the crushing 4-0 defeat to MK Dons in the League Cup under Louis van Gaal, the midfielder went on to make 75 appearances for the United first team.
He recently joined newly-promoted Fulham on a permanent deal and will be hoping to secure regular game time with the Cottagers.
Park Ji-Sung
What a piece of business this was from Sir Alex. After catching United’s attention with his performances for PSV, the South Korean legend was brought to Old Trafford in 2005.
Park quickly established himself as a cult hero in Manchester and he was a nailed on starter for Fergie in the big games due to his selfless running and qualities with and without the ball.
Park, who was tasked with specific man-marking duties at times, including keeping a close eye on Andrea Pirlo, made 203 appearances for the Red Devils, winning four Premier League titles and the Champions League, before joining Queens Park Rangers.
Tahith Chong
United signed the highly-rated youngster from Feyenoord in 2016 and Chong quickly established himself as one of the stars of the youth sides.
Despite winning the Jimmy Murphy Young Player of the Year award, the former Netherlands Under-21 international has struggled to impose himself on the United first team, making just 16 appearances.
Following loan spells at Werder Bremen, Club Brugge and most recently Birmingham City, the 22-year-old has been linked with a return to Feyenoord.
Jaap Stam
After arriving from PSV in 1998, Stam won three consecutive Premier League titles and was a key part of the Manchester United side that won the Treble in his first season at the club.
However, undoubtedly one of Sir Alex’s biggest mistakes in his legendary managerial career was him coming to the conclusion that Stam was on the decline and selling the dominant centre-back to Lazio.
Following his departure from United, Stam continued to play at the top for six more years and won a trophy at Lazio, AC Milan and Ajax.
Timothy Fosu-Mensah
A former Ajax youth player, Fosu-Mensah joined Manchester United as a 16-year-old in 2014 and made his first-team breakthrough at the club under his compatriot Van Gaal in 2015-16.
After making 10 appearances that season under the now Netherlands boss, the right-back had loan spells with Crystal Palace and Fulham.
Fosu-Mensah moved to Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was in charge, but he has suffered two cruciate knee ligament injuries during his career which have hampered his progress.
Alexander Buttner
The left-back was signed from Vitesse in 2012 by Sir Alex with the thought he could become Patrice Evra’s long-term replacement.
Despite scoring on his debut and in Sir Alex’s last game in charge of the club, Buttner only made 28 appearances for the Reds across two years before being sold by Van Gaal.
Memphis Depay
Manchester United splashed out over £25m in the summer of 2015 to sign one of Holland’s most exciting prospects.
But after being handed the iconic number seven jersey, Depay struggled for consistency and form under Van Gaal and Jose Mourinho.
After a difficult 18 months, the forward was sold to Ligue 1 side Lyon where he steadily rebuilt his career and earned a move to Barcelona.
Daley Blind
Blind was signed by Van Gaal on deadline day in the summer of 2014 from Ajax, and he proved to be a decent option given his ability to play at left-back, centre-back and in centre-midfield.
But while Blind’s technical qualities never failed him, his lack of pace and power caught up with him in the Premier League and he re-joined Ajax after being signed by Erik ten Hag.
Blind, who thrived and flourished under Ten Hag in Amsterdam, made 141 appearances for Manchester United and won the FA Cup, League Cup and Europa League.
But he returned to his former club after falling down the pecking order under Mourinho.
Donny van de Beek
Manchester United signed Van de Beek for £35m when the midfielder’s stock couldn’t have been higher.
United’s number 34 became one of the best players on the continent under the tutelage of Ten Hag, but his confidence and form looks to have evaporated during his ill-fated period at Old Trafford.
After scoring on his debut against Crystal Palace, the 25-year-old has quickly fallen out of favour for club and country.
After an injury-hampered loan spell with Everton during the second half of last season, Van de Beek will hope being reunited with Ten Hag will help reignite his stagnating career.
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