It’s been a difficult few years for football in the Netherlands, despite the emergence of some top players like Memphis Depay, Frenkie de Jong, Matthijs de Ligt and most recently Donyell Malen.
Ajax have flirted with European success in both the Europa and Champions League, but the strong performances that fans have grown accustomed to from the national team have simply not been there.
REVEALED: Football's most valuable players
The Netherlands failed to qualify for World Cup 2018 then at Euro 2020 they crashed out in the last 16 against a Czech Republic team that they were favoured to beat.
Louis van Gaal is now back in charge of Oranje, but who will be his aces?
Here we study the Netherlands’ 10 most valuable players, according to FootballTransfers’ algorithm, most of whom are liable to play a major role in Van Gaal’s rebuild.
Defenders dominate the top 10
Despite struggling on the pitch, the Netherlands still have one of the most impressive rosters of individual talent in all of world football.
Frenkie de Jong is, perhaps unsurprisingly, the nation’s most valuable player with the Barcelona talent currently being valued at no less than €85 million - which makes him one of the most expensive players in the world.
In second place and certainly not far behind the Barca star is his former Ajax teammate, Matthijs de Ligt, who is now valued at €76m after a move to Juventus and performances that are only growing his reputation in Italy and across the continent.
Intriguingly, the third most valuable Netherlands player is another defensive talent in the form of Ajax defensive midfielder Ryan Gravenberch, who comes in with a value of €53m. He beats Memphis Depay to third spot, with the Barca forward now worth €50m.
Following Depay is another procession of defensive players, with Lille’s Sven Botman in fifth place with a value of €43m, followed by Stefan de Vrij of Inter with an identical value. They both beat Liverpool star Virgil Van Dijk, who is now worth €42m.
Despite making a free transfer to Paris Saint-Germain in the summer from Liverpool, midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum is now worth €40m, which is just €2m more than Borussia Dortmund’s out-of-form forward Donyell Malen.
Remarkably, Manchester United’s constantly overlooked playmaker Donny van de Beek still makes the top 10 with a value of €37m.