Jaap Stam offers to help Man Utd sign ‘world-class’ Barcelona star

Jaap Stam says he would be willing to help Manchester United should the club pursue a deal for ‘world-class’ Barcelona midfielder Frenkie de Jong in the summer transfer window.

United focused on bolstering their misfiring attack last summer, with Matheus Cunha, Bryan Mbeumo and Benjamin Sesko all signing on the dotted line for a combined fee of around £200million.

The Red Devils also turned to the transfer market for a new goalkeeper after Andre Onana’s error-strewn two-year spell with the gloves – and Senne Lammens was signed from Royal Antwerp in an £18m deal on deadline day.

But now that United have wrapped up qualification for the Champions League, the debate surrounding possible incomings and outgoings for next season has intensified.

Amid the uncertainty surrounding Michael Carrick’s position, central midfield has been identified as the key priority by Old Trafford bosses, and an ever-growing list of high-profile names have been linked in recent weeks and months.

England duo Elliot Anderson and Adam Wharton remain firmly on United’s radar, along with the likes of Sandro Tonali, Bruno Guimaraes, Tyler Adams, Alex Scott and Mateus Fernandes.

But according to club legend Stam, United should strongly consider reviving their interest in De Jong having missed out on a deal for the Dutchman back in the summer of 2022.

Though De Jong has struggled with injuries throughout much of his seven-year stay with Barca, Stam is confident his fellow countryman would be an ‘ideal’ addition at the Theatre of Dreams.

‘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,’ the former United and Netherlands centre-back told ComeOn.

‘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.’

United have also been credited with an interest in De Jong’s Netherlands team-mate Micky van de Ven, whose club future is up in the air after a disastrous season for relegation-threatened Tottenham.

But while Stam has no doubts that Van de Ven would be a ‘great player’ for United, he believes the competition to sign the defender may be fierce this ummer, especially if Spurs go down.

‘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,’ Stam added.

‘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 has been blown away by the manner in which Carrick has managed to transform United’s fortunes after picking up the pieces from Ruben Amorim’s turbulent 14-month reign.

And given the experienced managers that have been and gone in post-Sir Alex Ferguson era, the 1999 treble winner thinks it is time to go down a different route.

‘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,’ Stam – a part of United’s treble-winning squad of 1999 – went on.

‘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.’

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