Manchester United new boy Donny van de Beek says he was convinced to join the club after hearing of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s tactical plans for him at Old Trafford.
The Dutchman signed a five-year deal with the club on Wednesday to complete a £40.3million move from boyhood club Ajax.
The 23-year-old is adept in an attacking midfield position but he’s spent parts of his career in a box-to-box role, meaning he could be utitlised in a variety of positions at Old Trafford.
Solskjaer already has the likes of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba at his disposal, and he tends to play two sitting midfielders with the Portuguese playmaker in front to link midfield and attack.
However, in an exciting indication of Solskjaer’s plans for United’s midfield, Van de Beek has revealed that the Norwegian told him he wanted to play him in an attacking role.
‘Last week I spoke to Solskjær. It was about private things, but also about football — he said he knew exactly what my biggest strengths are and told me that he wants me to be in and around the 16 [metre] box at Manchester United too,’ said Van de Beek.
‘I had a really good meeting with the coach and that for me was a really important thing. We talked about football things — I always make decisions about my feelings and my feelings were directly good with everything. That was for me an important thing’.
With Van de Beek and another midfielder in attacking areas, there would be plenty of responsibility placed on the remaining defensive midfielder.
Nemanja Matic excelled in the role towards the end of the season but the Serbian has just turned 32 and it’s unclear if he can manage three games in a week like he used to.
Nevertheless, Van de Beek’s arrival will bolster United’s midfield options and the Dutchman says he will start from ‘zero’ in order to impress at Old Trafford.
‘I will start at zero again at Manchester United,’ said Van de Beek.
‘That might seem sad, but I love it. If you start down the ladder you can begin to climb up again. It’s now up to me to see how high I can reach, and I see this as a challenge’.
