Manchester United seem to have fallen back into one of their old habits: grinding out results, regardless of how poorly they’re playing. Southampton thoroughly outclassed The Red Devils last weekend, but Louis Van Gaal’s men (and Robin Van Persie in particular) had enough in the tank to nick a couple of goals and earn the result.
It wasn’t a particularly impressive display, but with three points in the bag, few fans will be complaining.
Still, these same fans will want to see more from their team as the season progresses. After all, they’ve got a lot of big names in their squad, they’ve spent a lot of money and they really should be competing towards the top of the Premier League table.
But to get to that stage, I’d argue that they will need to add a little more steel to their midfield. There’s a reason why they keep getting linked to ‘The Dutch Roy Keane’, Kevin Strootman.
According to The Metro, Manchester United are ‘ready to make a move’ for the Roma star when the January transfer window re-opens. Unfortunately, he’s not going to come cheap. The Dutch enforcer has earned one hell of a reputation, such that it’s thought that he might cost as much as £32m.
If Louis Van Gaal does go ahead with this deal, it must be evidence that he rates the player very highly and that he views him as the missing link in the centre-of-the-park. Van Gaal will know Strootman well from his time as manager of the Netherlands. He’ll know exactly what the 24-year-old can offer.
Strootman’s spent much of the last year recovering from a major knee injury, but he’s finally back in rotation in Serie A. His forceful, dynamic performances could prove to be a real boon for Roma, if Manchester United don’t end up taking him off their hands.
If signing Kevin Strootman gets Manchester United purring again, it’ll prove to be £32m well spent.
What’s your take? Is Kevin Strootman the missing piece to Manchester United’s jigsaw puzzle?
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Yes we need Kelvin Strootman to stabilize the midle of the pack.
Yeah, it bring some changes in their squad.