Deal Close: Man united handed huge boost as £30m target who scored 14 goals wants move after Man united made ‘tempting’ offer that the player cannot reject
Manchester United are still in the market for reinforcements to add depth to their highly competitive squad, and now a new update has emerged on the club’s pursuit of a potential transfer target who happens to be like Jude Bellingham?
Who are Man United signing?
According to journalist Alfredo Pedulla, Manchester United have made enquiries about Bayern Munich midfielder Ryan Gravenberch.
Pedulla revealed on social media:
“Manchester United always thinks of Amrabat, but in the meantime, there has been an information survey for Gravenberch who has two other proposals from the Premier League.”
How good is Ryan Gravenberch?
Erik ten Hag has displayed his loyalty and belief in his Ajax alumni since joining the Red Devils last summer, snapping up a number of his former players including Antony, Lisandro Martinez and Cristian Eriksen, and now he could be set to spark another reunion.
Gravenberch – once hailed a “top talent” by football talent scout Jacek Kulig – had his breakthrough into first-team football under the guidance of Ten Hag, which led to huge interest throughout Europe when his exciting performances and undeniable talents were displayed regularly in the Eredivisie and on the European stage too.
The talented midfielder then moved on to Bayern Munich to chase his dreams of winning major trophies, but unfortunately has found regular game time hard to come by with the Bundesliga giants, something that the player has had no problems speaking out about after his first campaign.
Coincidentally, Ten Hag has always held Gravenberch in high regard and often spoke out about the young player’s influence in the team when he was managing Ajax:
“Ryan is a very young player,” ten Hag began. “But he has already gained a lot of experience. He has already played over 100 games in the Eredivisie, has played in the Champions League and has been called up for the national team. Despite his young age, he has already experienced a lot and, above all, won titles.
“He’s very important for our team because he’s a box-to-box player. He accelerates out of positional play, does good dribbling, has tremendous passing ability and participates in the build-up play.
“Due to his athleticism and physique, he is also strong in the transition game and can also win the balls. He’s come a long way, but can still learn a lot.”
There is no doubt that Gravenberch is one of the hottest youth prospects across the top five European leagues – ranking in the top 25% of his positional peers for shots on goal, shot-creating actions, progressive carries, successful take-ons and progressive passes received per 90 minutes played, as per FBref.
Not only that, Real Madrid star Jude Bellingham is named as one of the most comparable players to Gravenberch over the last 12 months, with many similarities beyond their rapid development at such a young age.
When comparing the promising midfield duo, they came close in several key attributes including pass completion (87.4% v 81.7%), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.91 v 4.81), percentage of dribblers tackled (53.8% v 66.7%) and successful take-ons (57.9% v 57%). The two players, therefore, are bullish and progressive in nature.
In fact, Dutch legend Rafael van de Vaart once claimed that Gravenberch – who has a reported €25m (£22m) price tag – is actually better than Bellingham:
“I think Gravenberch is better than him, in every way. Especially physically.”
With that being said, the signing of Gravenberch would be a great piece of business for Man United as they continue to invest in Ten Hag’s vision and philosophy to get Man United back to dominating domestically and winning trophies regularly.
