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Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp during the thumping victory over Everton in the Premier League match at Highbury, London, May 2005.

Timber next: Ranking the 7 Dutch players to play for Arsenal in the PL era

Ben Stewart •

Arsenal have had some serious talents from the Netherlands over the years, but it’s fair to say that some of them did better than others in North London.

With Jurrien Timber expected to join the Gunners this summer from Ajax, he will become their latest Dutch recruit. The 22-year-old has been highly sought after of late, but Mikel Arteta’s men appear to have won the race.

We’ve gone through the archives and ranked Arsenal’s seven Dutch players from the Premier League era from worst to best.

7. Nacer Barazite

Barazite had a prolific record for Arsenal’s various youth sides, but he never quite made the step up to the first team. The attacking midfielder featured in three League Cup games between 2007 and 2009 and racked up a mere 46 minutes for Arsenal in total.

After a couple of loan spells away from the club, he called it quits on his Gunners career in 2011.

6. Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand

The 19-year-old will be hoping to make an impact in North London over the next few years. In 2021-22, he was given a handful of opportunities by Arteta, who has regularly given the youngsters opportunities with the first team.

“[We are] rewarding him – for what he does every day in training and the games that he’s playing, for his attitude and the quality he has – he totally deserves to be with us,” Arteta told reports last year when asked about the youngster.

He’s certainly one to keep an eye on for the future.

5. Glenn Helder

Signed in February 1995, Helder turned out to be George Graham’s last-ever signing at Arsenal. The winger was mostly utilised as an impact substitute and he did have a handful of memorable moments while in North London.

Perhaps his most notable moment for the Gunners came against Southampton as he assisted compatriot Dennis Bergkamp’s first-ever goal for the club with a fine cross from the left-hand side.

4. Giovanni van Bronckhorst

Signed for £8m in June 2001, expectations were high when the Dutchman arrived at Highbury. He did get his hands on three trophies while at the club, winning two FA Cups and the Premier League.

However, his spell with Arsenal was ultimately hampered by injury. He suffered a cruciate knee ligament injury after only a couple of months with the club and never quite hit the heights that were initially expected.

Still, he did manage to get his hands on some silverware while in England and made a total of 64 appearances before departing for Barcelona in 2003.

3. Marc Overmars

One of the quickest players to ever grace the Premier League, Overmars continually had Gunners fans on the edge of their seats. The winger was a key component on Arsene Wenger’s 1997–98 double-winning side that clinched the league and FA Cup.

We’ll never tire of reminiscing over the glorious years Overmars spent in England.

READ: The day Arsenal hero Marc Overmars left a ‘little sh*t’ lost for words

2. Robin van Persie

The ending might have left soured things, but there’s no denying the player Van Persie was at his peak. The Dutch forward almost single-handedly carried Arsenal at times and his goal return is nothing short of spectacular.

Scoring 132 goals across 278 matches? Absolutely insane numbers. His most prolific year for Arsenal came in 2011–12, which proved to be his final year at the club. A return of 37 goals across all competitions has not been matched since he left.

1. Dennis Bergkamp

Who else? The Dutchman breezed through matches and is, without a doubt, one of the most technically gifted players the league has ever seen.

“When you have a player like that as a coach, you do not tell him how to play football, you just try to fit him into the team in the way which allows him to express his talent to the maximum potential,” Wenger told the club website.

He truly was one of a kind.

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