Home » Rio Ferdinand: Paul Pogba will be sacrificed for Donny van de Beek

Rio Ferdinand: Paul Pogba will be sacrificed for Donny van de Beek

by Marwan Harraz

Manchester United great Rio Ferdinand has warned Ole Gunnar Solskjaer in regards to his potential first-choice midfield after the purchase of Donny van de Beek.

The young Dutchman arrived from Ajax for an estimated €40m and became the club’s first signing of the summer.

United fans were pleased with the purchase and felt Van de Beek can either be a quality squad option or a starting XI player.

However, should the talented midfielder start then it raises questions over how Solskjaer can fit in all his key players in the same eleven.

Van de Beek’s versatility should still aid him but it will be interesting to see what the legendary Norwegian’s plans are.

According to Goal, Ferdinand said: “Listen, if you say you’re going to play your best players in that midfield and you’re going to play three, then you’d say Paul Pogba playing in the holding role and [Bruno] Fernandes and Van de Beek being the guys that are playing around that, a bit more free and able to move around and create.

“Is that Paul Pogba’s best position? I would argue not. But you have to look at what Ole Gunnar Solskjaer wants to do.

“Does he want his best players on the pitch or is he talking about players fitting in a system?

“I think that’s the intriguing part for me going into the season from Man United’s perspective in terms of the signing that they made, that player.

“Is he just going to be named as one of the best players in the team and he’s going to play, or are we going to say we want the system for the players to fit into.

“It’s a big call and that remains to be seen, but I still think Manchester United will have some sort of movement and there will be additions in this squad going into the season.”

It was claimed in some reports that Solskjaer promised Van de Beek the number 10 role, which was Bruno Fernandes’ main position last season.

Based on that information, the Portuguese magician and Pogba will play in a double pivot of sorts with the former Ajax man ahead of the dangerous pair.

However, in doing so, Solskjaer would be sacrificing his two best midfielders to make room for Van de Beek, which doesn’t make too much sense.

Either way, the transfer is essentially what all fans wanted, which is to have more options to give Manchester United the best chance of winning games.

Manchester United’s new star Donny van de Beek will be the 13th Dutch national to play for the senior side. But how much do you know about the other 12? Take our quiz below to find out.


Latest Top Stories...