da bet nacional： The vast majority of the Dutchman's signings have played in the Netherlands, but the Red Devils must recruit from a bigger pool if they are to succeed

da betsson： Towards the end of last season, the Manchester United fanzine editor and journalist Andy Mitten came up with an innovative approach to track who the club would be signing in the upcoming transfer window. Speaking on the podcast, Mitten joked: "We all need to start watching the Dutch version of Match of the Day".

United employ around 140 scouts who work around the world, but since Erik ten Hag has been manager, those based in the Netherlands have been the busiest. Of the 13 players the club have signed since the Dutchman's arrival, be it on loan or on permanent deals, eight have previously played in the Netherlands. Three of those (Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Tyrell Malacia) joined directly from the Eredivisie, while Andre Onana had spent the majority of his career there, only leaving Ajax for Inter in 2022.

Christian Eriksen began his career at Ajax and spent five years there, although he has since enjoyed the bulk of his playing career in the Premier League and could not be accused of lacking top-level experience when he signed for United in 2022. The same is true of Mason Mount, who spent one solitary season with Vitesse.

Then there is Wout Weghorst, who began his career in his native Netherlands but moved to Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga in 2018. Finally there is Sofyan Amrabat, United's latest arrival, who came through the ranks at Utrecht and played under Ten Hag before switching to Feyenoord and then to Club Brugge of Belgium in 2018, eventually joining the Red Devils from Fiorentina via Hellas Verona.

The Netherlands has a rich football history, producing some of the best players and managers of all-time, and United have a rich connection with the country. The club's Dutch links stretch back to Arnold Muhren in the 1980s and were strengthened by the roaring successes of Ruud van Nistelrooy, Jaap Stam and Robin van Persie, as well as Louis van Gaal's colourful two years in charge.

Ten Hag is a continuation of this long and mostly successful relationship. However, the manager's apparent penchant for players who have played in the Eredivisie oversteps the mark. And with United languishing outside the top four and floundering in the Champions League, there is plenty of evidence that this transfer policy is not working.

As Sir Jim Ratcliffe and his INEOS counterpart Sir Dave Brailsford continue to assess what they need to make United a force to be reckoned with, they will need to bring the strategy to an end.

GettyOnly Martinez adapted well

The Eredivisie has long lagged behind Europe's top-five leagues (the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A and Ligue 1), and between 2016-17 and 2018-19 it was ranked outside the top 10 by UEFA, below Russia, Ukraine, Turkey and even Austria, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

It has grown in stature in the last three years, rising to sixth last season, but it is still unusual for United to draw so heavily from it. Given that the level is deemed lower than in Germany, France, Spain and Italy, it is perhaps unsurprising that a few of the signings have struggled in making the step up to the Premier League.

Five of United's signings in the summer of 2022 came directly from the Eredivisie, and Martinez was the only player who seemed to adapt well to life in the Premier League, despite initial concerns about his height. The Argentine made up for his lack of stature due to his excellent technical skills and ability to make incisive passes out of defence, although this season he struggled as a result of the metatarsal injury he picked up last April, suffering a reoccurrence of the problem in September that has ruled him out until the new year.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMalacia goes from hero to zero

Malacia was a key player for Feyenoord, who finished third in the 2021-22 season, notching four assists and a goal. When Ten Hag looked within the Eredivisie for a player to give competition to Luke Shaw, he was the natural choice and was available at a reasonable price of £13 million ($16m).

But he experienced a lot of problems in his first campaign with United, soon losing his place to Shaw and then making costly errors against Sevilla and Tottenham. According to, Malacia's struggles were little surprise to members of Wales' coaching staff, who had identified him as a weak link due to his lack of physique when they faced the Netherlands in a Nations League match in 2022, and had tried to give the ball to Brennan Johnson as much as possible in order to put him under pressure.

The travails of Malacia, who has not played any football this season due to an injury sustained in June, appears to underline the gap between the English and Dutch top-flights. But he is not the only one.

Getty Antony is soon found out

Antony has been an even bigger flop than Malacia, especially considering United paid an eye-watering £85m ($106m) to sign him from Ajax on transfer deadline day, despite only being valued at £55m ($68m) at the start of the summer.

Antony cost United so much as Ajax were reluctant to let him go given he was such a crucial part of their team, having scored 18 goals and set up 14 in 57 appearances in the Eredivisie. He got off to an excellent start in England, too, becoming the first ever United player to score in his first three appearances for the club.

But Premier League opponents did not take long to work Antony out and defenders quickly managed to prevent him from pulling off his favourite trick, cutting in from the right wing and shooting with his left foot. Having scored three times in his first month at United, the Brazilian then went six months without scoring again in the league or providing an assist.

His second season has been a farce. He has not scored nor laid on an assist in any competition, and gave the club a deeply uncomfortable situation to deal with when he was accused of assault by his former girlfriend and two other women.

He is looking like United's worst-ever signing, even outdoing Alexis Sanchez, and the worst thing about his dire time at United is that Ten Hag campaigned so vociferously to sign him, believing him essential to putting his style of play into action.

Getty ImagesTurning to Weghorst

Antony is the last player United signed directly from the Eredivisie, but Ten Hag has continued to look to his home country when he is on the lookout for a new player.

After Cristiano Ronaldo left the club in disgrace in November 2022 and with no funds left after spending so much in the previous transfer window, the United boss turned to Weghorst, who had just scored twice in the World Cup for the Netherlands against Argentina.

Weghorst had had an unhappy previous spell in the Premier League with Burnley, but that did not put Ten Hag off and he signed him for United on loan, continuing to start him despite his lack of impact. The striker left United with no Premier League goals despite being given 17 appearances, his greatest moment being when he ran the length of the Wembley pitch to celebrate with supporters after the FA Cup semi-final shootout win over Brighton.