10 recent Dutch players to have signed for Barcelona

9. Frank de Boer and Ronald de Boer (from Ajax, combined sum of €22 million)

De Boer brothers

Frank de Boer, as was his twin brother Ronald, are proud Dutch-Barca hybrids. Frank, a defender, is also the second most-capped Dutch player with 112 international appearances, while Ronald had 67 Dutch caps himself. Both players arrived at Camp Nou in the summer of 1999, where they joined their former manager from Ajax, Louis van Gaal.

However, both players turned out to have slightly contrasting careers in Barcelona. Despite playing 33 games for the club in his first (and only) season, Ronald who was a prolific goal-scoring midfielder till then, could manage just a solitary addition to his tally of goals, and also failed to impress in the midfield. He was shipped to the Dutch side Rangers immediately afterwards.

Frank, meanwhile, went on to play with Barca until the end of '03-'04, and won the La Liga in his first season itself. But the wins could not be repeated and van Gaal was sacked, following which Barcelona went through a tough phase. Meanwhile, Frank also tested positive for a banned substance nandrolone, and was banned for a while. However, he made a comeback soon enough, leaving for Galatsaray in 2003 by when he had made over 150 appearances for the Spanish club.