One-time Manchester City and Premier League starlet Philippe Sandler deserves to be seen as a potential £35 million centre-back these days after another stellar Eredivisie display over the weekend.
You can probably count on one hand the amount of centre-halves who have got the better of Brian Brobbey in a physical duel. So the sight of Ajax’s broad-shouldered number nine being shrugged aside by Philippe Sandler during the 2-2 draw with NEC Nijmegen at the Johan Cryuff Arena certainly made one Wesley Sneijder sit up and take notice.
Sandler, the former Dutch international says, would not have looked out of place in the Ajax XI during Sunday’s four-goal thriller.
Once of Manchester City, the late-blooming colossus continues to go from strength-to-strength in the Netherlands, playing comfortably the best football of his career less than two years after leaving the Etihad Stadium on a free transfer.
Philippe Sandler left Man City for free
“I enjoyed Sandler,” Sneijder, who finished fourth at the 2010 Ballon D’Or awards after winning the Champions League with Inter Milan, tells Veronica Offside.
“He solves everything through (playing) football. Brobbey had a hard time against him defensively. He was thrown away a few times. No (other) defender has managed that this season.
“If this boy had played for Ajax now, or in the good times of Ajax, he would have been worth 30 to 40 million euros. I really think he’s a great player.”
Sandler spent four years as a Man City player after joining from PEC Zwolle in 2018. He endured one highly-forgettable year at Feyenoord too, before finally laying down his roots at NEC.
In fact, he’s been so impressive of late that, at the age of 27, the feeling is that NEC fans should enjoy him for as long as they can, Sandler appearing destined to climb the rungs of the footballing ladder again. Potentially as soon as this summer.
Now one of the Eredivisie’s stand-out defenders
“Of course, it’s a pity on the one hand. But, for me, this was the moment I felt I had to leave,” Sandler told De Telegraaf when explaining his decision to leave Man City back in 2022.
“I learned a lot from (Pep) Guardiola. Not only from him but also from the players. Many people always think you have to play matches to learn things, but I learned so much in training. I’m very happy and grateful that I was able to work with everyone there.
“Guardiola expects so much from you. Even if we only do a pass and kick exercise, everything has to go well.
“You get into a kind of trance, where you demand of yourself that every ball has to be good. He is such a lover; I have rarely seen people enjoy football so much.”
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