Eight years can feel like a lifetime in football. In 2014 Louis van Gaal was talking up the merits of signing players for Manchester United from Holland, while this summer he's been warning his Netherlands internationals about the risks of moving to Old Trafford.
United's transfer strategy under their second Dutch manager this summer isn't hard to decipher. There is a thread running through all of their targets and that is experience of life in the Eredivisie.
Frenkie de Jong fired himself onto the world stage through his performances at Ajax and has since spent three years at Barcelona before his expected switch to United.
READ MORE: United agree deals to sign De Jong and Malacia
For Tyrell Malacia this will be his first taste of football outside of his home country and the same would have been true had Jurrien Timber not got cold feet after Van Gaal's warning for his international prospects.
United will instead move on to his centre-back partner Lisandro Martinez, potentially battling Arsenal for his signature. Ajax is Martinez's first club in Europe and the same is true of Antony, the 22-year-old winger Erik ten Hag is also keen on.
Christian Eriksen began his club career at Ajax but has since proven his ability to step up from the Eredivisie, as De Jong has done at the Nou Camp. For Malacia, Martinez and Antony that challenge still awaits them.
Perhaps no other European league has provided signings to the Premier League that can fluctuate so wildly in terms of achievements to expectations. Spotting players ready to excel away from Holland hasn't been easy and there have been plenty of duds who shined in the Eredivisie but flopped once they'd crossed the North Sea.
Mateja Kezman, Afonso Alves, Jozy Altidore and Vincent Janssen all had impressive records in Holland but made little to no impact once they moved to England, but Ten Hag is sticking to what he knows this summer and he's being backed in that judgement by United's football director John Murtough.
When Van Gaal was appointed United manager in 2014 he talked up the merits of signing players from his home country, although with the caveat that assessing their level was crucial.
"If they are at the level I want them to be, then I will sign Dutch players," Van Gaal said. "Dutch players are usually cheaper than players of other nationalities and they have usually been very well educated in the Netherlands, I believe.
"They have to be of a level that can play well in the English Premier League. You have to ask if that is the case with every player."
The academy system in Holland certainly produces technically proficient footballers and it's hard to disagree with the assessment of value, given United will sign Malacia for €15million, although Ajax may yet play hardball for Martinez and Antony.
In Van Gaal's time at United, he signed two players from Holland and if Daley Blind was a relative success then Memphis Depay was not. Depay looked like a major talent at PSV Eindhoven but scored just seven goals in 53 games for United. He's since excelled at Lyon and has done relatively well at Barcelona, so his move to the Premier League might have come too soon.
Timing can be everything when it comes to swapping the standards of the Eredivisie for the Premier League, where the intensity rises as much as the spotlight, especially at a club like United.
That will be one of the challenges for United's new recruits this summer, in a transfer strategy that will be familiar to Van Gaal.
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