On September 15th, 2012, a player made his debut for Manchester United against Wigan Athletic; scoring, assisting, and winning the Man of the Match.
For some that description may conjure to mind the young English midfielder Nick Powell, another player who failed to live up to his potential at Manchester United, but in fact, the player described was a 23-year-old Alexander Büttner.
It’s safe to say that his performance in the 4-0 debut win against Wigan was one of the high points of his career, but let’s look at where he is now…
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Joining Manchester United from Vitesse Arnhem on a 5-year deal, after a season which saw him named Vitesse’s player of the year, Alex Büttner was possibly seen by Sir Alex Ferguson as the long-term successor to Patrice Evra.
Despite being a traditional left-back he managed to get on the score sheet again that season in his five Premier League appearances, scoring in the famous 5-5 against West Brom which marked Sir Alex’s last game in charge of Manchester United.
Büttner was never able to kick on in the first team under his successor, as David Moyes preferred Evra as his starting left-back.
The situation only grew worse after Moyes was replaced by Louis Van Gaal, with personal issues and lack of playing time resulting in the defender being sold to Dynamo Moscow in an initial £4.4 million deal on 22nd June 2014.
He made 31 appearances in his first season for the Russian side, scoring once. But during his second season, he suffered multiple injuries which reduced his playing time.
This resulted in him going out on loan to the Belgian side Anderlecht in February 2016.
At Anderlecht he kept up his record of scoring at every club he had played for, scoring the second goal against Zulte Waregem in a 3-0 win.
This was his only goal for the Belgian side, and he went on to make 16 appearances, before returning to his parent's side after Anderlecht decided against making his stay a permanent one.
Büttner returned to the first team at Moscow, despite expressing a desire to leave the club, making four more appearances for the team before his contract was terminated due to the Russian club suffering financial difficulties in December 2016 (these difficulties led to Dynamo Moscow being sold for 1 ruble in the same month).
Now a free agent, Alex Büttner returned to his former club Vitesse, who signed him on a two-and-a-half-year deal.
The return to the club that made his name sparked the best form of the dutchman’s career. In his first season, he played 21 games, registering 8 assists and averaging 2.4 combined tackles and interceptions a game.
He improved these defensive numbers in his second season, registering a combined 2.8 tackles and interceptions per game, but managed one less goal contribution, 7 (2 goals and 5 assists).
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He left Vitesse for a second time after his contract expired in July 2019. The Dutch left-back turned 31 on the 11th February and as of this article’s publication, he plies his trade with New England Revolution in the MLS, who is currently gearing up for their first fixture of the new season on the 29th of February, away to Montreal Impact.
Alexander Büttner has never made a senior appearance for the Netherlands and having entered the twilight of his career, this is unlikely to change.
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