Donny van de Beek has offered some insight into how Ole Gunnar Solskaer convinced him to leave Ajax and join Manchester United.
The Dutchman was confirmed as United's first summer signing on Wednesday in a £34.6million deal that could rise to £39million.
The 23-year-old has signed a five-year contract with the option of an additional year and will wear the number 34 shirt in honour of ex-Ajax teammate Abdelhak Nouri.
Van de Beek had been heavily linked with a move to Real Madrid but he took little convincing to move to Old Trafford after speaking with Solskjaer, as well as Daley Blind and Edwin van der Sar.
In an interview with Dutch outlet De Telegraaf, van de Beek gave some insight into the topics discussed during his one-on-one with Solskjaer that sealed the transfer.
“I had a great conversation with him last week. It was about private matters, but was mainly football-related,” the Dutchman explained.
“It turned out that the manager had been following me for a long time. When he was the manager of Molde, in that match in the Johan Cruijff ArenA I scored with a head wound and bandage…
"He said he knows exactly what my great strength is and thinks that I should also get into the box a lot at United.
“They [former United duo Edwin van der Sar and Daley Blind were lyrical, said that United are an incredibly big, but above all, a warm club. And that is how I have experienced it so far. I can’t wait to get started there.”
