Record number of Dutch players in Premier League pleases Koeman
FILE PHOTO: Soccer Football - World Cup - European Qualifiers - Group G - Netherlands v Malta - Euroborg Stadion, Groningen, Netherlands - June 10, 2025 Netherlands coach Ronald Koeman REUTERS/Piroschka Van De Wouw/ File Photo
AMSTERDAM :Barcelona and AC Milan used to be glamorous ports of call for Dutch footballers but these days the Premier League is the destination of choice for most of the Netherlands squad, who will be playing two World Cup qualifiers this week.
Acclaimed coach Rinus Michels took his ‘total football’ to Barcelona, and Johan Cruyff went on to become an icon for the Catalan club, while Milan’s Dutch trio of Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Marco van Basten propelled the club to the top of the European game in the late 80s and early 90s.
But it is across the English Channel where the top Dutch talent heads to these days, as reflected in the fact that 13 of coach Ronald Koeman’s 25-man squad for the qualifiers against Poland on Thursday and Lithuania on Sunday are based in the Premier League.
This season, a record 36 Dutch players are at Premier League clubs, prompting Koeman to joke he should consider moving to monitor them all.
"It'll be even easier if they all play in the Manchester and Liverpool area. We only have to go there then," he said in a recent television interview.
The last player on the books of a Dutch club to start for the national team was teenage defender Jorrel Hato against Spain in the first leg of the Nations League quarter-final in March. There were none in the three subsequent games, and Hato has since signed for Chelsea.
Sunderland goalkeeper Robin Roefs is the latest English-based player to win a call-up from Koeman, while Xavi Simons is the latest Dutch squad member to move to England, signing for Tottenham Hotspur last week.
"We spoke about it in June already,” Koeman said at a press conference on Monday. “I think Spurs is a great move for him.”
Hato also asked Koeman for his opinion about his move from Ajax Amsterdam.
"He called me to ask if he was making the right choice."
For Koeman, who never played in England but managed Southampton and Everton, it was an easy choice.
"In my opinion, the Premier League is the best competition.”
But he said there was still an opportunity for home-based players in his squad.
"The really good ones, yes, but they quickly move on to another league. In foreign leagues, you're tested every three days, which automatically makes you stronger and better.
"But that doesn't mean you should leave quickly. Because you do get the chance to play matches here (in the Netherlands)," he added.
(Writing by Mark Gleeson in Cape Town; editing by Pritha Sarkar)
