Manchester United Transfer News: Biggest Red Devils Rumours on Good Friday

Manchester United boss Louis van Gaal will be looking to his midfield in the summer transfer window and according to reports, Kevin Strootman remains the Dutchman’s top target ahead of Juventus midfielder Paul Pogba.

According to James Robson of the Manchester Evening News, the Red Devils will not be enticed into a bidding war for Pogba, who is apparently attracting interest from the likes of Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester City and Chelsea. Instead, Van Gaal will continue to pursue the signature of his compatriot.

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But according to Robson there are a few caveats:

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Van Gaal has made no secret of his intention to sign a top quality midfield general. He will be handed another transfer budget in the region of £150m this summer, with a large portion of that being reserved for his midfield targets.

The Dutchman was prepared to wait a season for Strootman to regain his full fitness at Roma - but a fresh knee operation at the start of the year means he will be sidelined for the rest of the campaign.

He is on schedule to return for pre-season, with United having to decide if they can take a risk on a player who has started only four games in the last 12 months.

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Robson claims United do have some contingency plans in place, however. Given the AS Roma man’s perennial injury problems and the clutch of clubs chasing Pogba, Real Madrid’s Sami Khedira and AC Milan’s Nigel de Jong—both available on free transfers in the upcoming window—have also been touted as potential options.

Here’s a look at what a fully-fit Strootman could offer the Red Devils:

Prior to his succession of injury problems, Strootman was rightly revered as one of the very best central midfield players in European football. The former PSV man is a wonderfully multifaceted talent in terms of both tangible and intangible qualities; there was little surprise when Van Gaal named him as one of the Netherlands captains during his stint as national team boss.

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But as sad as it may be, injuries as significant as the one suffered by Strootman last season can be perpetually debilitating and as of yet he’s been unable to prove his fitness. As the player posted himself recently on social media, he’s spent a lot of time in the treatment room over the past 12 months:

This can be looked at in one of two ways. The first is that United should potentially approach this deal with caution and despite Van Gaal’s clear affinity with the player, hold fire on any bid. The second is that given all the issues accrued by Strootman as of late, they could potentially pick him up for a cut-price transfer fee.

As noted by Adam Digby of FourFourTwo, it’s not as if the Giallorossi are short on quality midfield options either:

Admittedly, neither are United and to add another player in this part of the squad may seem a little unnecessary. But none of the midfield players available to Van Gaal boast fundamental defensive acumen, unrelenting energy and ferocity in the challenge to compare with the likes of Strootman, nor Khedira or De Jong.

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Angel Di Maria is a player who was expected to provide that kind of intensity in the attacking side of this team, but as of yet things haven’t quite worked out for him at Old Trafford. Thom Gibbs of The Telegraph took a look at why:

With a reported £150 million to spend, Van Gaal could potentially bankroll a money-spinning pursuit of Pogba. But while the Juventus man is a world-class talent in the making, given the calibre of clubs reportedly chasing him, United would struggle to lure him back to Old Trafford and as such, it seems as though they’re willing to be a little more reasonable in their approach to targets.

But a pursuit of Strootman would be naive and misguided at this juncture. He’s a player who could make an enormous impact on the Premier League at his best, but it remains to be seen whether or not he can reach those levels again after the manner in which his career has been punctured by injury problems.

As such, it’d be a massive gamble to bring him in. While United are flush, a manager of Van Gaal’s incomparable experience will surely err on the side of caution on this one.