Stam offers to help Man Utd sign their ‘ideal player’ from Barcelona this summer | OneFootball

Jaap Stam thinks Frenkie De Jong would be the “ideal player” for Man Utd and has offered his help to convince the Dutchman to sign.

The Red Devils spent over £200m on new players last summer as they used the majority of their budget on attacking players, with Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha all arriving at Old Trafford.

There were some disappointed fans after Man Utd failed to bring in a new midfielder with that a particular area of concern ahead of the beginning of the season.

But Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS are determined to address those concerns over the summer with widespread rumours that they will try to bring in at least two new midfielders, a left-back and left-winger as a minimum.

Man Utd have been linked with numerous midfielders over the past few months as the transfer window gets closer and excitement builds over their lofty position under interim boss Michael Carrick.

Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson, Newcastle’s Sandro Tonali, Crystal Palace’s Adam Wharton and Brighton’s Carlos Baleba are some of the most rumoured players.

But Stam reckons De Jong, who has been linked with a move to Man Utd for years, could be the answer to all of the Red Devils’ midfield problems.

Stam told ComeOn: “Frenkie de Jong would be the ideal player for Man Utd, I think, to help them out because he’s so good on the ball.

“We can discuss his physique in the Premier League, maybe, because if you go into one-vs-ones or the tackling part of it and the physical part, then of course he’s not the biggest, but he’s a very good player.

“And I think looking at Michael Carrick, how he wants to play, he also wants players who can control the game with the ball at their feet and be very dominant. Then you don’t need to defend very much.

“But Frenkie, yeah, he’s a world-class player. He’s one of the best midfield players there is, and he’s very comfortable on the ball, especially playing out from the back and dictating that and helping the team out to go forward and get into the final third to score goals.

“So, if the opportunity was there for United, I would help them out. I’ll go on my bike to Barcelona and bring him to United, no problem.”

Micky van de Ven ‘would be a great player’ for Man Utd

Man Utd have also been heavily linked with another of Stam’s compatriots, Micky van de Ven, who has been linked with a move away from Tottenham in the summer.

Stam added: “Micky van de Ven is ready to step up. I think he’s very good at adapting to a certain level. And every time he picks that up, if he makes the next step to a higher level, then he becomes a better player himself.

“So for him, I won’t say it’s very good for him to leave, because I still think Spurs is, of course, a very big club, but they’re in a situation now that it’s very difficult for themselves, but also for him maybe to stay if he wants to move on.

“Then there’s probably a team that wants to pick him up that can play on the opposition’s half with a lot of space in their back. So you need to have defenders who are very quick, who’ve got pace, who can cover that.

“Micky would probably go to one of the top teams in the Premier League, like Liverpool but also he could go to United, because he would be a great player for United. So he can play as a left-back, he can play as a centre-back.

“Those type of players in your squad are ideal, I think, for a manager in making choices, but also that you’re confident when you play that when the opposition gets past you or puts that ball over the top, that you have players who can defend that big space.”

Stam: I think it’s very hard not to give Carrick the job

Man Utd confirmed their qualifcation for next season’s Champions League with a 3-2 victory over arch-rivals Liverpool at the weekend, taking Carrick’s record as interim boss to ten wins, two draws and two losses.

Stam continued: “I think it’s very hard not to give Michael Carrick the job, I think he deserves it. If you look at when he stepped in, how the team was playing, and what he’s changed within the group and the club.

“I think the feeling with the fans, some good, effective football, and the results, which are, of course, very important, getting into the Champions League. I cannot imagine that the owners would go for somebody else.

“If you look at more experienced coaches and managers coming in, they’ve done that and tried that before. They didn’t succeed in the past, so they find it very hard. When is the right time to give Carrick that job? Otherwise, you never gain experience.

“Not experience at a big club like United. You can have some experience leading other teams, of course, but to lead a club like United, you need to do that to get that experience, to feel how it is. I think now is the second time that he’s done it.

“He’s had a great spell now, he’s done very well, so I think you need to do that. I cannot imagine there are no talks going on now or starting because if he wants to go on as a manager, he needs to have a look at other clubs now himself if he wants to change that somewhere else, if he wants to bring in players somewhere else.

“So this is the time to make decisions, and after this success by getting into the Champions League, I can’t imagine not talking to him now and saying, ‘OK, we want to go and give you a contract for maybe for the next season or the next two seasons and see how it goes.’

“And there are always talk with fans, or people are always saying when they’re not successful, ‘OK, then it’s the lack of experience or he’s too young or we should have brought in this manager.’

“But he knows the club very well. And I think it’s very positive that he knows what happened before, maybe the new owners came in, and how the club needs to be run and what needs to be done and what the feeling is as a United manager or as a United player.

“He can bring that feeling to the players, and I think that’s already what he’s been doing.

“And together with great people on the board, people who are very committed and want to make changes, I think you can help a young manager like him in making that next step or to become very successful for the club.”