Ajax legend Sjaak Swart believes that Donny van de Beek is making the 'right choice' by joining Manchester United rather than Arsenal or any of the other clubs that were interested in him.
United are closing in on making Van de Beek their first signing of the summer for £40.1million after the Dutch playmaker passed a medical on Monday and agreed personal terms.
Van de Beek is currently away on international duty with the Netherlands but only the paperwork needs to be signed to complete the move.
United are long-term admirers of the 23-year-old and have been monitoring him since January but accelerated their interest at the weekend, with talks to sign Jadon Sancho continuing to stagnate and a move to sign Jack Grealish looking set to be very expensive.
Van de Beek has emerged as one of Europe's best attacking midfielders over the last two seasons and rose to prominence with his performances in Ajax's remarkable run to the Champions League semi-finals in 2019.
Despite being heavily and repeatedly linked with the likes of Real Madrid, Juventus, Barcelona and Arsenal it is United who have stolen ahead to sign him for what some see as a surprisingly low fee.
Swart - who works for the agency which represents Van de Beek, Players United Management - has revealed that the other clubs who were interested in the player couldn't afford him due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“Manchester United is certainly the right choice,” he told Ajax Showtime.
“There were more clubs with interest, such as Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, Juventus and Arsenal. There were six in total, but it all came to an end because of the coronavirus.
“It was already a regular matter in March that he would go to Madrid, but because of the virus, all of that has been postponed.
“Clubs have no income, and they could not sell players. Ultimately, Manchester United pushed through, and that is, of course, a very nice club. It used to be a championship winning club and they now want to build that way again.”
Swart was then further pressed on Arsenal's interest in the player. He added: “Yes, they really wanted him.
“But they just couldn’t get the money for a transfer. Even the biggest clubs struggle. Arsenal is a great club, but Manchester United will certainly be an interesting adventure.”
