Donny van de Beek may play a deeper role for Manchester United

04/09/20 2880

On Wednesday, Manchester United completed the £40million signing of highly-rated central midfielder Donny van de Beek from Dutch giants Ajax.

The signing was a surprise one, as there had been no rumours or speculation surrounding the midfielder heading to Manchester before this week.

The surprise was likely because the Red Devils are already well-stocked with attack-minded midfielders in the shape of Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba.

Van de Beek is a versatile midfielder though, as he can play as a number six, eight or ten. However, his best attribute seems to be getting into goalscoring positions. The 23-year-old has scored 41 goals in 175 appearances for Ajax, which is a respectable goal tally from midfield. He has got into double figures in his last three campaigns for Ajax.

Looking at the midfield three of United Van de Beek, Pogba and Fernandes, it's certainly an exciting trio.

It is just a matter of United boss Ole Gunnar Solskjaer working out how to best utilise the players at his disposal without leaving his team exposed in the centre of the pitch.

There seems to be a few possibilities if as expected all three starts regularly. The first possibility is that Van de Beek will play a deeper role, meaning he will slightly more defensive.

It is also possible that Pogba will play a deeper role, as he has done for France in the past. Then there is the possibility that they take turns of moving forward. However, that can be a dangerous game if the players are not disciplined enough.

The trio seem like intelligent footballers, but it seems the most likely possibility is that Van de Beek will play in a deeper role, alongside Pogba with Fernandes as a number ten. Only time will tell if Solskjaer can work out this conundrum to get the best out of his talent midfield trio.