Solskjaer explains what Van de Beek brings to Man United

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer explained why Donny van de Beek is exactly the type of player Manchester United needed for the upcoming season.

Manchester United pulled off one of the coups of the summer transfer window by signing the highly-rated Van de Beek on a five-year deal.

The Dutch midfielder became a man in demand following his exploits in the 2018/19 Champions League by helping Ajax reach the semi-finals. He impressed again last season before the COVID-19 pandemic led to the Eredivisie’s cancellation.

Real Madrid and Barcelona, coached by his former Netherlands boss Ronald Koeman, were both reportedly keen to sign him.

But United got their man by agreeing to a €39m transfer fee with Ajax, with Van de Beek putting pen-to-paper on a contract until 2025.

Donny van de Beek is the latest player to take the No. 34 shirt as a tribute to Appie Nouri ❤️ pic.twitter.com/BvUSZ4Dcgo

— B/R Football (@brfootball) September 2, 2020

Now Solskjaer has opened up on his reasons behind signing Van de Beek and on how he plans to integrate him into his squad.

“When we signed Bruno Fernandes, we knew we needed that kind of player, now we’ve signed Donny and he’s a type of player I felt we needed in the squad,” the Red Devils boss told the BBC.

“He’s the type of person that will fit the culture, fit the team, and will improve us next season and for years to come.

“Donny is a versatile player; a very intelligent, clever player. He’s got loads of energy, enthusiasm, [he’s] developing all the time.

“He scores goals and we need to add goals from midfield. Our forwards scored quite a few goals last season, Bruno came in and scored goals but we need goals throughout the squad because we didn’t score enough to be challenging at the top.

“He’ll add his creativity, his reading of the game, his understanding of the game. He can see space and arrive at the right time. The timing of his movement is fantastic.”