Rafael van der Vaart is in favor of Frenkie de Jong joining Manchester United.

Barcelona is weighing Manchester United’s offers to sign Frenkie de Jong, according to Marca.

De Jong’s future is also a hot topic in the Netherlands, where he has been excelling in recent weeks, including a particularly strong performance against Belgium.

Rafael van der Vaart, a former Dutch international who played in the Premier League for Tottenham

Hotspur and for Real Madrid alongside Cristiano Ronaldo in the 2009/10 season, spoke about his present and future this week. According to Ajax Showtime, Van der Vaart informed Ziggo Sport that he supports Frenkie de Jong leaving Barcelona for Manchester United.

Van der Vaart explained: “At Barcelona he stands between players like Pedri and Gavi who can do the same as him. In the Dutch national team he is the only one with this quality

 

“That [a transfer] would be ideal. There is a coach who knows exactly what he can and cannot do.

“Manchester United also need some quality. He will be the only one of his kind at United.

“If he had to choose today, I would go to United if I were him.”

Van der Vaart is correct; United just do not have a player with his skill set and experience who can help the first team right away.

After the departures of Nemanja Matic and Paul Pogba, Manchester United’s midfield is in desperate need of reinforcements, and this must be their first priority.

It doesn’t make sense to spend £80 million on a striker when the midfield is so lacking in quality, as we observed earlier this week in the wake of the news that United would miss out on Darwin Nunez. It’s more crucial to get De Jong.

Even if United spends £68 million for De Jong, as Marca claims the club is willing to do, the money spent could be well spent.

As Van der Vaart points out, after their time together at Ajax, manager Erik ten Hag understands exactly how to employ him, which might lead to a more successful period than he has had at Barcelona.

Now all De Jong has to do is respond favorably to his conversation with Ten Hag and accept the risk.