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Since its inception in 1992, Premier League has played host to number World class players from all around the globe. Dutch has a rich pedigree in world football, with the north-western European nation producing some of the greatest players ever to play the game. Johan Cruyff, Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard, and Marco van Basten, are some of the greatest from the Oranje nation.
Some of the great Dutch footballers of 90s and early twenty-first century have plied their trade in the premier league. This article intends to list some top Dutch performer and their achievements, in English football.
Honourable mention: Jaap Stam and Arjen Robben
Jaap Stam was a rock in defense for Manchester United from 1998 to 2001, thus helping Red Devils win three back-to-back premier league titles and a Champions League. He would have surely achieved more success if weren't for his bust-up with Sir Alex Ferguson.
Arjen Robben helped Chelsea win two premier league titles. His pace, dribbling and finishing skills made him one of the most feared wingers in the world. But he spent only three seasons at Chelsea before moving to Real Madrid. Since then he has achieved a lot of success playing in Germany for Bayern Munich.
#4 Ruud van Nistelrooy
The Dutch scoring machine, Ruud Van Nistelrooy was a highly prolific goal scorer. A poacher with excellent positional awareness, footballing intelligence, movement off the ball, physical strength and clinical finishing made him one the best center-forward of his time. at a reported transfer fee of £19 million in 2001.
The Dutchman played five seasons at United scoring 150 goals in 219 appearances including six hat-tricks.
With 38 goals, he is still the club's second all-time European goalscorer behind Wayne Rooney.
Van Nistelrooy won the premier league golden boot as well as player of the season award in 2002/03 season.
#3 Robin Van Persie
The flying Dutchman took over the goal-scoring mantle from Thiery Henry at Arsenal. He started out as a winger but was soon transitioned into a striker by Wenger and after the departure of Henry, he finally moved into center-forward position.
Known for his incredible dribbling and finishing skills, Van Persie scored 132 goals from 278 games for the gunners.
Van Persie shocked the world by signing for Arsenal's arch-rivals Manchester United in August of 2012 at an estimated transfer fee of £24 million.
He had a highly successful first season at Old Trafford scoring 26 Premier League goals(30 in total) thus helping Manchester United win the League title in Sir Alex Ferguson's last season at the helm.
Along with his goal-scoring prowess, Van Persie is also known for incredible vision, awareness and passing ability which helped him earn numerous assists.
Even though his next two seasons were not as productive as the first one, he still managed to rack up a respectable tally of 18 and 10 goals respectively(in all competition) before being sold off to Fenerbahçe in Turkey.
#2 Edwin Van Der Sar
It took Sir Alex Fergusen six years to find a worthy replacement for legendary Peter Schmeichel.
Signed for a fee of just £1.5 million from Fulham (another Premier League Side), where he notched up a total of 127 league appearances in four seasons. Van Der Sar was a colossal presence between the sticks at the Old Trafford club for six seasons.
With Van Der Sar in the goal, Manchester United won four premier league and a Champions League title. In the process, he also created the world record for most minutes without conceding a league goal (1,311 minutes, set in 2008–09 Premier League).
Van Der Sar with his excellent shot-stopping ability, positional sense and effective distribution, will always be considered as one of the best goalkeepers ever to play the game of football.
#1 Dennis Bergkamp
Arguably the greatest Dutch player to play in English football, Dennis Bergkamp is an Arsenal legend. Signed in 1995 from Inter Milan, Bergkamp mostly played as a second strike or a deep-lying striker due to his creative play and ability to link up play between midfield and forwards.
His vision and passing range also helped him rack up 94 premier league assists at Arsenal. Bergkamp scored a total of 120 goals in 423 appearances for Arsenal. He also enjoyed successful partnership initially with Ian Wright, then with Henry and Anelka.
A crucial member of Arsenal's invincible side of the early 2000s, also won three premier league titles while playing for gunners.
In February 2014, Arsenal unveiled a statue of Bergkamp outside the Emirates Stadium, as a testament to his contributions for the club.
