Donny van de Beek is headed to Manchester United

Donny van de Beek is moving from Ajax to Manchester United.

After a fourth-place finish in the Premier League, Manchester United have endured a disappointing offseason in which they missed out on Jadon Sancho and saw starting center back Harry Maguire arrested in Greece. Ole Gunnar Solskjaer decided the best way to restore order was a shopping spree, and he punctuated that spree by adding Dutch star Donny van de Beek.

The 23-year-old Van de Beek, who spent the last few years as one of the major components in a lethal Ajax attack, joined the Red Devils for a £35.7 fee.

https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/1301196435644444673

Donny Van de Beek is one of the best young attacking midfielders in the world

Due to Ajax’s legendary academy and habit of playing young players, van de Beek already has 175 games worth of top-flight experience for a team that was the class of the Dutch Eredivisie for the last few seasons. In that time, he has scored 41 goals and won four trophies. He has been capped for the Netherlands 10 times, although he has failed to score.

Van de Beek will wear the No. 34 shirt with United as a tribute to former Ajax midfielder Abdelhak “Appie” Nouri, who had to retire from soccer at the age of 20 after suffering severe and permanent brain damage during a game in 2017. Former Ajax teammates Joel Veltman and Justin Kluivert have honored him in a similar fashion.

Even if van de Beek and star signing Bruno Fernandes play the same position and might compete for playing time, Solskjaer is betting United’s depth in the final third being the secret ingredient that catapults them over rivals like Liverpool and Manchester City.

With his thunderous shots and keen vision that allows him to orchestrate a high-octane attack, he’ll fit right in with United. For the price they snatched him up for, van de Beek might be a bargain.