Manchester United need a major overhaul and one of the positions that they need to strengthen is in the central midfield area. One player that has been linked with Manchester United now is Marseille’s Kevin Strootman, who was previously linked with United a few years ago.
The Dutch midfielder moved to the French club last year for €25 million from Italian club AS Roma. The report suggests that Marseille are willing to let Strootman go out on loan and that he has been offered to West Ham and Everton, apart from Manchester United.
Strootman had a good year for Marseille, but the club want to let him go after finishing in a disappointing sixth position in the Ligue 1 table. The Dutch midfielder has been a constant fixture in the Marseille team this season. He has been an important part of the Dutch national team too, making 42 appearances for his country.
Should Manchester United make a move for Strootman?
The Dutch midfielder is a hard-tackling player who can play as a defensive midfielder or a central midfielder. Strootman is a someone who can pass the ball well, defend and tackle the ball in midfield, while also showing great determination going up and down the central midfield area.
Strootman can be a very good player in a deep-lying midfield area, providing a shield to the central defence. The Dutchman is an all-round midfielder who can bring some strength and tackling ability to United’s midfield, which has been sorely lacking for years.
With Nemanja Matic’s powers waning and Fred not delivering consistently enough, United need a player who can tackle, retrieve the ball and move it forward to attacking players like Paul Pogba. A loan deal seems like a sensible move as it gives United the option to assess if Strootman is capable of adapting to United’s style of play as well as the Premier League. The Red Devils possess Scott McTominay as well but asking him to shoulder all the responsibility in deep midfield at such a crucial juncture for the club might be counter-productive and Ole needs to go about shaping the midfielder’s development in an astute manner.
Strootman has been linked with a move to United a number of times in the past, but a transfer never really materialised. At 29 years of age, Strootman is an experienced player and perhaps has a few years remaining in top tier football.