Manchester United’s Midfield Genius

Arnold Muhren

Vol­en­dam born Arnold Muhren played for Vol­en­dam, Ajax and Twente before Ipswich Town man­ager Bobby Rob­son signed him for £150,000 in August 1978. Accom­pan­ied by his former team­mate Frans Thyssen the fol­low­ing year, he emerged as one of the most import­ant play­ers in the great side who went on to win the 1981 UEFA Cup.

Impressed by his pos­i­tion­ing and read­ing of the game, Manchester United man­ager Ron Atkin­son signed Arnold Muhren at the start of the 1981–82 cam­paign. The Dutch mid­field maes­tro made his Manchester United debut in a 3–0 win at home to Birm­ing­ham City in August 1982 and helped the club win the FA Cup the fol­low­ing year. A pop­u­lar player with the home sup­port­ers, Muhren amassed a total of 98 appear­ances for Manchester United between 1982 and 1985. The tal­en­ted play­maker returned to Hol­land in 1985 and fin­ished his soc­cer career at former club Ajax where he went on to win the European Cup Win­ners’ Cup in 1987. A Dutch inter­na­tional, Arnold Muhren accu­mu­lated 23 appear­ances for his nation after mak­ing his debut in a 4–0 win away to Tunisia in April 1978.

Arnold Muhren won the European Cham­pi­on­ships with Hol­land in 1988.