Football journalist Matt Addison has been sharing his thoughts on Manchester United’s reported transfer move for Ajax attacking-midfielder Donny van de Beek.
This comes after Addison recently made an appearance on the Liverpool Echo’s Blood Red Podcast where he spoke about the latest news topics in the football world at the moment.
After it was recently reported that the Manchester club have agreed a £40 million deal for the Dutchman, Addison shared his thoughts on this potential deal.
He said: “Donny van de Beek signing for Manchester United, I think is an unbelievably good signing. I think it’s 35, 40 million, which is a reasonable fee for a player who was an integral part of that team, the Ajax team that got to the Champions League semi-finals.
“He was almost one that got overlooked in the transfer market, but he was certainly not overlooked on the pitch. He was really, really important and I think this is going to be a fantastic signing for Manchester United.
“You do question quite where he fits in. If they’ve still got Paul Pogba, they’ve still got plenty of other midfielders. Obviously, Bruno Fernandes has been impressing and scoring plenty of goals, so it’s an addition to their squad as much as anything else, but I’m sure Ole Gunnar Solskjaer will want to find a position for him in that first XI because, as I say, [he is] a fantastic midfielder.”
The 23-year-old, who is currently valued at £39.6 million, first signed to the Ajax youth system back in 2008 on a free transfer. After working his way through the youth ranks at the Dutch club, Van de Beek made his senior debut for Ajax back in 2015.
Since then, the midfielder has gone on to make 175 appearances for Ajax in which he has scored 41 goals and provided 34 assists along the way (per Transfermarkt).
The 2019/20 Eredivisie season saw Van de Beek make a total of 22 league appearances for the club. His performances in those appearances earned him an impressive season rating of 7.41/10 (per WhoScored).
Would Donny van de Beek be a regular starter for Manchester United?
Yes
No
TIF Thoughts…
It appears as though Addison is a big fan of the Dutchman and believes that United are making a good move trying to sign him this summer.
However, with United currently having Bruno Fernandes, Andreas Pereira and Juan Mata in their squad who currently play in the attacking-midfield position, Van de Beek could potentially provide more competition in that position for those current United players if he does end up at Old Trafford this summer.