A 14-year professional, Marco van Basten enjoyed a stellar playing career, starting his career with Ajax in 1981. The striker quickly became an established part of the first team at Ajax, helping the Amsterdam club win three Eredivisie titles and three KNVB Cups between 1981 and 1987.
After winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup with Ajax in 1987, van Basten moved away from Amsterdam, joining AC Milan alongside fellow Netherlands star Ruud Gullit. The striker struggled with injuries in his debut season, though was part of the team that won Milan their first Serie A title in almost a decade. Even still, van Basten did enough to win his first Ballon d’Or in 1988.
The following season saw van Basten back to his brilliant best. At full fitness, the Dutchman enjoyed a sensational season, helping Milan win the first of two European Cups that van Basten would win with the club and his second-straight Ballon d’Or. In the following campaign, Milan successfully defended their European crown.
In total, van Basten won two European Cups, three Ballon d’Ors and four Serie A titles with Milan. Injuries, though, continued to trouble the striker and van Basten played his final professional match at just 28 years old in 1993, retiring two years later after failing to recover.
Despite his career coming to a premature end, van Basten is still regarded as one of the best strikers of all time. Recently, upon the conclusion of the 2024/25 campaign, van Basten spoke, via L’Equipe, about a certain player who has made a strong case to win the prestigious Ballon d’Or award.
‘He’s a Breath of Fresh Air’
Dutch duo sing praises of French star
As per L’Equipe, van Basten waxed lyrical about Ousmane Dembele. The Frenchman was considered a flop just a few years ago, having struggled for form with Barcelona since his big-money move there from Borussia Dortmund in 2017. In 2023, he joined Paris Saint-Germain where he has since rediscovered his form, particularly thanks to Luis Enrique.
Across the 2024/25 season, Dembele returned to a position of being considered as one of the world’s best players. Comfortable either on the wing or as a striker in Enrique’s fluid system, Dembele is of crucial importance to the Spaniard, as it is often Dembele that initiates the press for PSG.
Ousmane Dembele 24/25 Season Stats
Competition
Ligue 1
Champions League
Coupe de France
Van Basten, comparing the Frenchman to a legend of the game, said that Dembele “plays a bit like Johan Cruyff, who was often a false striker,” before immediately clarifying that he was “talking about his way of playing.” He continued, saying:
"It started towards the middle of the season, because there were still a lot of problems at the beginning. When Dembélé started playing in the center, his freedom allowed the team to become very good."
This opinion is not exclusive to van Basten, who found that his thoughts on Dembele were shared with fellow legend, Ruud Gullit. The former midfielder, who played with van Basten at AC Milan and was also part of the Netherlands team alongside van Basten, went on to reinforce the retired striker’s words, saying:
“He scores goals where I think to myself, ‘I’ve never seen you do that!’ He’s a breath of fresh air. This is the first year he’s played like this and I’m now wondering if he can continue, I hope he does.”
At 28 years old, Dembele is within his prime years as a player and finally seems to have found a club to call home, a club for whom he is a consistent starter and a club that he guided to their first-ever Champions League title in the latest campaign.
( All stats are fromTransfermarktand are correct as of 12/06/2025 )
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