Man Utd must hijack Tottenham's move for Eredivisie standout

Tom Weber

• Updated: 6 Mar 2024 17:30 GMT
• 11 min read

Manchester United need midfield reinforcements in the summer.

The Red Devils are in for a major summer overhaul. The ambitious plans of new investor Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS will see plenty of changes at Old Trafford, not least in terms of personnel.

With the shakeup of the recruitment structure nearing completion following the news that Crystal Palace sporting director Dougie Freedman is the 'top target' to become Man Utd's new head of recruitment, the next step will be fixing the playing squad.

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Head coach Erik ten Hag could get sacked after this season, but this won't change the fact that the squad needs a makeover. The midfield, in particular, is an area of concern. Age is catching up with Casemiro, Bruno Fernandes is in the midst of his least productive season in a Red Devils shirt, Scott McTominay and Christian Eriksen are surely keen on regular game time and Sofyan Amrabat has been a major disappointment.

18-year-old Kobbie Mainoo and Mason Mount, who has barely played this term, appear to be the only senior Man Utd midfielders with a long-term future at the club and they could be playing alongside several fresh faces next term.

Man Utd should target Timber

FootballTransfers exclusively revealed last month that Man Utd had begun keeping tabs on AC Milan's Tijjani Reijnders ahead of a potential summer move, but there is another Dutch midfielder the Manchester giants should be looking at.

Quinten Timber, the brother of Arsenal star Jurrien, is once again the subject of links to the Premier League, currently being associated with a potentially awkward switch to the Gunners' north London rivals Tottenham as well as Newcastle. He is a player Man Utd should be all over.

Erik ten Hag will likely be very familiar with his compatriot as Timber was in the Ajax youth system during the coach's time in Amsterdam. The midfielder has excellently filled the sizable shoes of former Feyenoord captain Orkun Kokcu this season and become a real standout performer in the Eredivisie.

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According to data experts SciSports, Man Utd are the 22-year-old's ideal next club, and by quite some distance too. SciSports utilise hundreds of data points to generate a Club Fit rating via their Career Advice tool and the results for Timber are very clear.

The Red Devils have a Club Fit score of a whopping 87, ahead of Roma and West Ham with 83. Arsenal and Man City complete the top five with a rating of 80. Though already 22, Timber still has bags of potential and SciSports believe that he can exceed the current level of the likes of Casemiro, Sofyan Amrabat and Mason Mount.

The only potential problem could be that Timber doesn't quite fit the profile of midfielder Man Utd should be looking at. The Red Devils are in desperate need of a proper, long-term Casemiro replacement, so they should be looking for more of a holding midfielder.

Timber, by contrast, is very much a technically sound and energetic box-to-box player, who has chipped in with six goals and six assists in the league this term. Nevertheless, the Dutchman would be a shrewd acquisition.