Edwin van der Sar has likened new Manchester United signing Donny van de Beek to club legend Paul Scholes for his ability to score goals from midfield.
United made Van de Beek their first signing of the summer earlier this month when they completed a deal that could rise up to £40.1million from Dutch giants Ajax.
The 23-year-old is regarded as one of the most exciting playmakers in Europe and made his name during Ajax's historic run to the Champions League semi-finals in the 2019/19 season, in which he scored or assisted against Bayern Munich, Real Madrid, Juventus and Tottenham.
Van de Beek contributed an impressive 27 goals over the last two seasons in the Netherlands and Van der Sar sees similarities with his former teammate Scholes, who always had an eye for goal.
“He can play in different positions in midfield – he can be a six or an eight or a 10, he has a great eye for a goal. His technique is brilliant, he can go box to box,” Van der Sar told MUTV Group Chat as he explained what United can expect from their new arrival.
“I’d compare him a little bit to Scholesy, although Scholesy had a cracker of a shot from 30/40 yards out and that’s not Donny’s strength, but he likes to come into the box and chip in with goals. Maybe it’s unfair to compare him to Scholesy actually, but he’s a good lad and I’m sure he’ll be a great addition to the team that Ole [Gunnar Solskjaer] is creating for United.
“I presume he’s had a talk with Ole and they’ve talked about different positions [he can play]. He’s multi-functional, he can play a little bit deeper which I think is his preferred role.
“Of course, we know United already have a couple of great midfield players there so he will find his way in the team and also with the amount of games that top clubs need to play this year in the Premier League and Champions League and the cup matches, everything is quite intense so you need a good, wide squad and I think the midfield looks okay at the moment for United."
