Which player from the Netherlands has the most Premier League appearances? | OneFootball

On the international stage, the Netherlands are one of European and World football’s powerhouses, and many of the country’s stars have graced the Premier League.

Some of the very best Dutch players have featured in the English top flight, such as Ruud Gullit at Chelsea, while Virgil van Dijk is amongst the current stars of the division thanks to his incredible performances for Liverpool.

All in all, 143 players from the country have featured in the Premier League, each with varying degrees of success.

Who tops the list?

Several star Dutch names are included in the top ten. Arguably the best of the bunch is Dennis Bergkamp, who comes in second, while Edwin van der Sar, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink and Mario Melchiot also make the top five.

Robin van Persie, Georginio Wijnaldum, Tim Krul, Erik Pieters and Patrick van Aanholt make the top ten too – although the latter has made as many appearances as van Dijk and is therefore likely to be surpassed in the near future.

At the top of the tree, however, is four-time Oranje international George Boateng, who was part of the English football fabric for 12 years.

Who did Boateng play for in the Premier League?

Boateng made Premier League appearances for four different teams during his time in England.

His first port of call after departing Eredivisie outfit Feyenoord in 1998 was Coventry City, where he stayed until the end of the 1998/99 season.

Next up was a switch to Aston Villa, and then Middlesbrough, where the bulk of his Premier League matches came. His final stint in England came with Hull City, with whom he played two top-tier campaigns before moving to Greece in 2010.

Boateng played in a huge 384 Premier League games, 69 more than his closest rival Bergkamp.

As a defensive midfielder, Boateng didn’t venture too far forward, but still managed to score 17 goals and provide 18 assists.

144 matches ended in defeat compared to 125 in victory – that is to be expected considering the sides he played for often found themselves battling to stay in the top tier. He also picked up five red cards and 85 yellow cards – he is in the top ten in the league’s history in regards to the second of those two numbers.