With Daley Blind suffering what looks like a serious injury this week there will be ever more intense speculation about Manchester United troubling the market yet again this winter for reinforcements.
Manchester United have said that they won’t buy quick fix solutions and will wait for their top targets to become available. We, along with most of the football press, understand those top targets to be Kevin Strootman of Roma and Borussia Dortmund star Mats Hummels.
It’s not out of the question that both could sign in January – LvG would possibly cry with relief if he could get them both in this winter – and a report suggests that Manchester United have agreed a deal in principal for the Dutch midfielder.
Kevin Strootman has ‘shaken hands’ on a move to Manchester United, according to Dutch journalist Hugo Borst.
Borst himself said:
“In the spring of 2014 there was a match between PSV and Feyenoord,” “Robin van Persie was in the stands, along with Louis van Gaal. On the other side was Kevin Strootman. The pair chatted, this was when people knew Van Gaal was going to Manchester United.
“Van Gaal asked Strootman whether he was interested in playing for Manchester United, and he said he was very willing. They have shaken hands on the deal.
Manchester United really lack a leader in the engine room right now. Until injury Blind was neat and tidy but not a leader. And Marouane Fellaini runs around a lot but regularly fails to justify his status as a professional footballer.
At 24, Strootman has the craft, graft and personality for the job in hand. He’s lovely passer of the ball and scores goals. But he also allows others around him the freedom to play better football. In short, he’s a Manchester United leader in the making.
The journalist does also suggest that the player won’t move to Manchester United until next summer. These specific reports may be premature. But, injury permitting, this one is surely a case of if rather than when.
Let’s enjoy some more Strootman while his Manchester United shirt is being readied.
