Despite reports that surfaced in January that Spanish giants Real Madrid have agreed personal terms with the Midfielder, it appears the Premier League will be Donny Van De Beek’s destination.
When denying any agreement with Madrid, the 23-year old said: “It makes no sense, I can’t control what people say. I think it is premature. I have often said: I will not hurry; I am fine here. If it happens, it happens.”
Real Madrid have been linked with a number of Midfield players with one of their top targets being Manchester United’s Paul Pogba while United are also interested in luring De Beek to the Old Trafford stadium.
The Premier League side do have a host of Midfield players, boasting the likes of Paul Pogba, Scott McTomminay, Fred, Matić among others but bringing in De Beek to the squad will surely improve United’s play should The Red Devils get the deal done for the Netherlands international.
De Beek is a utility player who can play anywhere in the Midfield as he has played for Ajax since he broke into the scenes couple of years ago. He has contributed 10 goals and 11 assists in 37 appearances for Ajax this season.
Interestingly, his total number of eight league goals this season betters that of all Manchester United’s Midfield players who have combined for just seven league goals between them this season.
His excellent ball control, and a great eye for a pass as he links up with the attack makes him dangerous as he makes runs into the box which is a quality lacking in most of United current crop of Midfielders.
Paul Pogba is United’s best Midfielder and his future at the club is uncertain, should Pogba decides to move and United replace him with De Beek, it will be an upgrade on the Frenchman according to stats.
A significant point where The Dutchman will be an improvement on Pogba is creating chances as De Beek has created over 40 chances this season while Pogba has just 19 big chances in his premier league career.
On average, Van de Beek creates 2.2 chances per 90 minutes, which is more than McTominay (0.9), Fred (1.6), Pereira (1.9) and Lingard (2) but slightly fewer than Pogba (2.8).
However, when it comes to defensive contributions, Van de Beek has won 2.0 tackles per 90 minutes in the league this season, at a success rate of 71.4%. Pogba is often criticised for his defending but has won an average of 1.9 tackles per 90 minutes with a tackle success rate of 65.5%.
Van de Beek has completed only 1.0 dribble per 90 minutes and is bested in that regard by Pereira (1.1 at 57.8%), Lingard (1.3 at 54.1%), McTominay (1.5 at 65.2%) and Pogba (1.6 at 61.6%), but the Ajax star has the best success rate by far at 90.9% which is good news as he will be less prone to losing possession.
United signed Bruno Fernandes in January and he has hit the ground running with series of impressive performances and if the move for De Beek can be done, it will be massive for them in the oncoming season.
A Midfield of Bruno Fernandes, De Beek and any of the current United players will be a good combination for the Ole Gunnar Solskjaer side as they work to restore Manchester United to former glory.
