Manchester United will hope Donny van de Beek isn’t a flop like his predecessor at Everton, and Tottenham and Chelsea disappointments
The Ajax talent factory that produced the likes of Johan Cruyff and Dennis Bergkamp is back up and running.
Manchester United have snapped up their latest young prodigy, with Donny van de Beek sealing a £35million move to Old Trafford.
Van de Beek has been linked with Barcelona and Real Madrid in the past
The 23-year-old is among the most promising midfielders in Europe, but then again, so was his predecessor – and that didn’t turn out so well.
While there have been some fantastic additions to the Premier League from Eredivisie, there have been some total stinkers too.
Here talkSPORT.com takes a look at the worst signings to arrive in England from the Dutch top-flight…
Do Man United need Van de Beek when McTominay is there? – Micky Gray claims Red Devils don’t need £35m Dutch star
Davy Klaassen (Everton)
There can only be one place to start.
Ironically, Klaassen’s move to Goodison Park in the summer of 2017 paved the way for Van de Beek to break into the Ajax starting XI.
In fact, they are so similar that Van de Beek drew comparisons to Klaassen during his time in the Ajax academy and became a natural successor once he left.
However, despite commanding a £24m fee, Klaassen made just seven Premier League appearances for Everton and left the following summer for half the price.
Van de Beek has followed in Klaassen’s footsteps in Amsterdam, but Man United will hope he doesn’t do the same in the north of England.
Everton fans won’t want reminding of Klaassen
Memphis Depay (Man United)
And the Red Devils will also hope Van de Beek works out much better than their last big signing from Netherlands.
United paid £25m to sign Depay from PSV in 2015 after a year which saw him star at a World Cup and finish the season as top scorer in the Eredivisie.
As we all know, that was no fluke, and the 26-year-old has reestablished himself as a superstar at Lyon.
But for some reason, he was totally rubbish during his two years at Old Trafford, leaving for £16m in 2017.
Maybe it’s the curse of the No. 7 shirt?
Depay’s struggles remain a mystery
Jozy Altidore (Sunderland)
For some reason, the fact that Altidore scored two goals in 30 appearances for Hull City wasn’t enough to stop Sunderland paying £8m for him in 2013.
In fairness, 51 goals in just two seasons at AZ Alkmaar is quite the haul.
But upon his return to England, he was poor once again, netting just one league goal for the Black Cats.
Maybe that says something about how hard it is to score goals in the Dutch league.
Altidore just couldn’t cut it in England
Mateja Kezman (Chelsea)
What a throwback.
To be fair to Kezman, he scored an extra-time winner against Liverpool in the 2005 League Cup final – the one when Jose Mourinho shushed the Reds faithful.
But if you’re arriving off the back of 105 goals in 122 games with PSV, then seven goals in 40 appearances cannot be considered success.
Again, maybe the Premier League is just a bit more difficult.
Kezman was one of the many Chelsea signings after Abramovic arrived
Vincent Janssen (Tottenham)
Who could forget Janssen? Well, most people actually.
Spurs even forgot to issue him a shirt number before the 2018/19 season.
After arriving from AZ Alkmaar for £17m, Janssen netted just two Premier League goals over three years at the club.
One positive, though, is that his woefulness ensured Harry Kane got a lot more goals.
Janssen was a Spurs player until quite recently
No comments:
Post a Comment