Will De Toekomst regain their 90s status for Barcelona in the near future?

Barcelona aggressively recruited from Ajax’s youth academy in the 90s

The only real competitor to La Masia in the history of football has been De Toekomst. Manchester United’s youth academy flourished for a period, but the Red Devils were never close to either Barcelona and Ajax in terms of production of young talent.

But the history of La Masia and De Toekomst are strongly interlinked. It was De Toekomst graduate Johan Cruyff who established La Masia as the best youth academy in the world. But after the end of the ‘Dream Team’ came the immense Dutch influence on Barça’s football.

President Josep Lluís Núñez sacked Cruyff and hired Bobby Robson before appointing Ajax manager Louis van Gaal as head coach. The Sparta Rotterdam legend brought in eight of his compatriots, most of whom had graduated from Ajax’s youth academy.

Frank de Boer, Patrick Kluivert and Michael Reiziger went to be hugely successful at Barça. They were also part of the golden generation of the Dutch footballers, the successor to Ronald Koeman at the Camp Nou, who was assistant manager at the time too.

Kluivert scored 122 goals and provided 59 assists in 257 appearances in all competitions for Barça. De Boer made 214 appearances in all competitions over the course of his career at Barça, scoring 13 goals and providing 11 assists as centre-back.

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De Boer’s partner in defence, Michael Reiziger, was also brilliant in his time at the Camp Nou, making 256 appearances. This De Toekomst trio was there at Barça when the club was going through the most tumultuous period in its history, showing their resilience.

This trio helped in maintaining the stability as managers changed and Josep Lluís Núñez was forced out of the club. Eventually, Núñez’s successor Joan Laporta oversaw their sale, but ended up appointing a Dutch manager yet again with Frank Rijkaard.

After the departure of Reiziger, Kluivert and De Boer, there was been little influence of De Toekomst at the Camp Nou. Rijkaard brought in Ajax legend Edgar Davids, but he was only on loan for a season. The tenure of Pep Guardiola completed eradicated the influence of De Toekomst.

The member of Johan Cruyff’s ‘Dream Team’ revolutionised La Masia like his mentor, and made into a talent-churning machine after managing Barcelona B for a season. The former Barça captain did not recruit a single player from De Toekomst, instead looking to Valencia for talent.

The last De Toekomst graduate to join Barça is Thomas Vermaelen, who was signed from Arsenal in 2014. But with the signing of Frenkie de Jong, Barça could look to De Toekomst yet again as Ajax’s youth academy starts to produce the best talents in world football yet again.

Apart from De Jong, De Toekomst has produced world-class youngsters like Matthijs de Ligt, Carel Eiting, Donny van de Beek and Justin Kluivert. All of these players have been linked with Barça, and could join the club in the future.

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While De Ligt is a priority for Éric Abidal in the upcoming transfer window, Van De Beek, Eiting and Kluivert have also attracted significant attention from club scouts. With the signings of these players in the future, De Toekomst could regain its 90s status at Barça.