Barcelona have a long history of Dutch players
The contribution of the Netherlands to world football is immense. Along with Germans and the French, the Dutch have been pioneers in globalising the game. But Dutch footballers have been integrated into club cultures too, especially of Europe’s elite clubs, including Barcelona.
In fact, the foundations of Barcelona’s success in the 21st century was laid by a Dutchman, Johan Cruyff. The Ajax legend took over as Barça manager in 1988, and guided the club to 11 trophies over the course of 8 years, essentially creating what we today know as tiki-taka.
Cruyff based his footballing philosophy on the classical Dutch tactic of Total Football, where the football was very fluid. Under his leadership, club legends like Pep Guardiola and Andoni Zubizarreta emerged, while he signed Dutch great Ronald Koeman.
After he left the club, the Dutch spirit was firmly ingrained into the club’s future. Club president Josep Lluís Núñez appointed Louis van Gaal as manager, who signed players like Winston Bogarde, Michael Reiziger and the De Boer brothers.
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But the greatest Dutch players to play for the club since Johan Cruyff were undoubtedly Patrick Kluivert and Phillip Cocu. Even later, Frank Rijkaard led Barcelona to 5 titles in five seasons in charge. But since his departure, the Dutch impact on the side has been minimal, until now.
Barça are going after two graduates of De Toekomst, who are touted to be the stars of tomorrow, Frenkie de Jong and Matthijs de Ligt. These two players have already started making waves at Ajax, and fulfill their true potential at Barça, as many of their predecessors have done.
It seems as if De Toekomst is acting as an alternative to La Masia for the recruitment of talent for the future of the first-team. If they join, De Jong and De Ligt will be succeeding Sergio Busquets and Gerard Piqué, both of whom are La Masia graduates.
But it will go a long way to reinforce the Dutch presence in the Barça culture, and will help Barcelona to grow a club. The Dutch Revolution is coming to Catalonia.