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Manchester Evening News
Manchester Evening News
Sport
George Smith

Rio Ferdinand has already delivered his verdict on Wout Weghorst amid Manchester United interest

Former Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand has previously waxed lyrical about striker Wout Weghorst amid the Reds' interest in signing the Netherlands international on loan.

As reported by the Manchester Evening News , the Reds are advancing with a possible loan move for the 30-year-old, who is currently on loan at Turkish giants Besiktas from Burnley. He joined the Turks on loan back in July following Burnley's relegation from the Premier League.

Weghorst, who scored twice in the Netherlands' thrilling World Cup quarter-final with Argentina in Qatar last month, joined Burnley from Wolfsburg on the final day of the January transfer window last year for a reported fee of £12million. The Clarets added him to their ranks to try and help them stave of the threat of relegation.

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However, he scored just two goals in 20 Premier League appearances, meaning he failed to have the desired impact. He did, however, make a strong start to his Burnley career, scoring once and grabbing two assists in his first four appearances, one of which was during a 1-1 draw with United at Turf Moor last February.

After taking a first-half lead through Paul Pogba, United, who were under the stewardship of Ralf Rangnick at the time, were pegged back just two minutes into the start of the second half through Jay Rodriguez. The former West Bromwich Albion and Barnsley striker latched onto a terrific pass from the Dutchman and was sent clear.

Weghorst showed excellent centre-forward play to turn away from United duo Harry Maguire and Scott McTominay before producing a lovely reverse pass to slip Rodriguez in, who then provided a cool finish past David de Gea. Such was the quality of Weghorst's pass, it earned special praise from Ferdinand in his post-match analysis, likening it to something Kevin De Bruyne would usually conjure up.

"This comes from Man United attacking," Ferdinand told BT Sport. "Two or three of them lying down, playing forward and running forward. It's about feet, that bit of skill is beautiful, can it be prevented?

"There's McTominay, he's your protection, all he's got to do, Maguire, is keep pushing him away, he hasn't got to overcommit, as soon as he overcommits, it's a great piece of skill, this pass is sublime, if Kevin De Bruyne does that [Weghorst pass] we'll all be going crazy.

"This touch across Maguire takes him completely out of it. I don't think Maguire is quick enough to have got there to affect that situation once it got beyond him.

"It's about stopping it at the source, once he had the big number nine, keep him facing [away from] the goal, he's got the security of McTominay in front of him, he can deal with him a little bit, these are small mistakes leading to big moments."

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