Manchester united signing of Donny van de Beek has given Solskjaer plenty of options to add to the likes of Paul Pogba and Bruno Fernandes.
After waiting so long for United to finally unveil first summer signing, it would have felt like nit-picking to take issue with the club last week.
Not that nit-picking is beyond some of the impatient Manchester United fans on social media, who have been heavily critical of the club’s transfer activity (and inactivity this summer).
Some of the flak taken by the Old Trafford club is warranted, and there is no doubt the Jadon Sancho situation ought to have been managed better by club officials, but there can be little quibbling with the acquisition of Donny van de Beek.
It was never openly reported that the former Ajax midfielder was a ‘priority’ United target, but then that – plus the fact they only paid £35million up front for a player good enough to crop up on Real Madrid and Barcelona’s radar – is to the credit of Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s side. And while the quest to sign Sancho and other targets will rumble on this summer, Solskjaer must begin to devise a plan to extract the best of Van de Beek.
The 23-year-old has proven with Ajax that he is an extremely capable and versatile footballer, able to play at the base of a midfield, in a box-to-box role or as a No.10 in the position currently occupied by Bruno Fernandes at Old Trafford.
These are the reasons Solskjaer was so keen to add Van de Beek to his squad. To claim the Dutchman comes into an area where United are already strong is true, but he also adds much-needed depth.
Micky Gray should never be used as a barometer for how United fans are feeling and the ex-Sunderland star proved as much when assessing the addition of Van de Beek on Talksport last week.
“This is such a big surprise for me that Manchester United have gone for Donny van de Beek before they’ve actually tried to get Sancho in again or another star signing,” said former defender Gray.
“He’s not the star signing I thought Manchester United would actually bring through the door first.
“Is he even a position they need? If you had asked me midway through last season – [Nemanja] Matic was struggling, Fred couldn’t get anywhere near the team, [Scott] McTominay picked up that bad injury – I’d have said ‘yes, he’s a good signing’.
“But since then Matic has been outstanding, Fred has improved but he’s obviously not for Man United moving forward, and McTominay has come back.
“I think McTominay will be around for the next five or six years, maybe even longer than that, and he can play in that holding midfield role.
“I think Man United’s first signing of the window should have been the one that got everybody speaking, that star signing, like a Sancho – a player who could have taken them from third to first in the league.
“But Van de Beek isn’t going to change too much at Manchester United as a holding midfielder.”
There are many things about Gray’s assessment to take issue with, including how he views McTominay and Fred. Van de Beek is not a replacement for either player. In fact, he’s more like a back-up for Pogba or Fernandes, more comfortable pushing forward from a No.8 position. If either of the duo are injured, Van de Beek represents a quality option, an area that has been severely lacking at United since Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement.
Also, Solskjaer must begin to use more alternative formations at United to get the most from his squad, and to retain an element of surprise.
He now has Van de Beek, Fred, Matic, Pogba, Fernandes and McTominay as six excellent midfield options. So a four-man midfield diamond with either Fred or Matic sitting, Fernandes or Van de Beek at the apex and two of the rest either side would make sense. He could also consider a genuine 4-3-3 with either Fernandes or Van de Beek cutting inside from the right flank.
Gray and the critics of the Van de Beek signing are plain wrong. Manchester United need options all over the pitch and in midfield they finally have an embarrassment of riches, as Manchester United should. Over the course of the season, all six will play their part.
Now, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer needs to replicate that depth in other areas.