Malacia done, Martinez next: Man Utd's Eredivisie hits and misses

Karan Tejwani

5 Jul 2022 14:07 BST
4 min read

Manchester United have completed a deal for Feyenoord’s Tyrell Malacia, while they’re also working on signing Ajax’s Lisandro Martinez in a double swoop from the Eredivisie.

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The Red Devils have focused heavily on certain Eredivisie players since the arrival of Erik ten Hag as head coach earlier in the summer, with the Dutchman’s expertise proving to be useful.

It’s well known that major clubs across Europe can secure some impressive signings on relatively low fees from the Dutch top-flight, and United are looking at the league for the plans this year.

Manchester United's Eredivisie hits and misses

United have had their fair share of success when shopping from the Eredivisie – some of their most interesting signings have been from the league, but they’ve also had a few flops.

The most prominent name would be Ruud van Nistelrooy, who the club signed in 2001 from PSV, and he went on to become of their most prolific forwards ever.

The Dutchman scored 150 goals in 219 appearances, and proved his £18.5 million fee was totally worth it, however, he left in acrimonious circumstances, as he fell out with members of the squad as well as Sir Alex Ferguson.

Before him, Jaap Stam was another great signing as he joined in 1998 and won the treble in his first season at the club, showing his quality and leadership in his time there.

However, he left a bit too soon – even Ferguson admitted that letting him go in 2001 to Lazio was one of the biggest mistakes of his career, and that he should’ve given him more time to be at the club.

🗣️ Sir Alex Ferguson: "Without doubt the best finisher we have ever had [at Manchester United]."

🇳🇱 Happy birthday to legendary forward Ruud van Nistelrooy! #HBD | @RvN1776 | #UCL pic.twitter.com/PvlN4K4mBO
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) July 1, 2022

Daley Blind was another, although he was a fine footballer that arrived at the wrong time, playing under Louis van Gaal and Jose Mourinho having signed from Ajax.

Blind played in a variety of roles for the club including defensive midfield, left-back and centre-half, and was often consistent, but he was let go by Mourinho in 2018 after failing to nail down a permanent place.

In terms of those that went wrong, Memphis Depay is arguably the biggest one – the Dutchman arrived from PSV in 2015 with high expectations, but left in 2017 without much of a mark.

Donny van de Beek is another, having achieved great things at Ajax before his move, but he has rarely played since his 2020 transfer, and will be hoping that Ten Hag’s arrival can reinvigorate his Old Trafford career.

Other than that, United have signed players at youth level that have been relatively unimpressive when moving up to senior football.

Timothy Fosu-Mensah, Tahith Chong and Andreas Pereira are two such examples: both had time in the first-team over several seasons and different managers, but failed to make a mark, with the latter set to leave this summer.

Former Vitesse players Raimond van der Gouw and Alexander Buttner were two squad players in their time – the former was a solid reserve goalkeeper, while the latter served as Patrice Evra’s deputy.

Ten Hag will be hoping he has more Van Nistelrooys and Stams should his new club complete the signings of Malacia and Martinez, and will be hoping his Eredivisie gamble pays off in his first season at the club.