Strootman could leave Roma in January: Would he be a good signing for Man Utd?
- Kaustubh Pandey(@Kaus_Pandey17)
One player who comes to mind, who can help United sort out the mess, is Roma’s Kevin Strootman.
While the Dutchman is someone who has drawn links with the club multiple times in the past, injuries have derailed his progress every time he has looked to step up. Now though, 27-year-old Strootman is up and running- fully fit and a regular at the giallorossi.
Strootman has made 22 appearances in all competitions for Roma this season, impressing in the midfield under Eusebio di Francesco by playing in a midfield trio alongside the likes of Daniele de Rossi and Radja Nainggolan. While the Netherlands international is more suited to a deeper midfield role, he has started on the left side of the 4-3-3 more often.
For United as things stand, Ander Herrera and Marouane Fellaini are yet to sign new deals with their current deals set to run out at the end of the current season. Paul Pogba happens to be the club’s only creative central midfielder, with Scott McTominay and young Scott McTominay not exactly the kind of midfielders who contribute too much moving forward and prefer sitting deep in the heart of the park.
Pogba has often been handed the captain’s armband in recent games, but United have suffered from a severe lack of leadership and organization at the back, with the backline struggling everytime an aerial balls comes at them. And while the French superstars is one of the best midfielders in the world, he isn’t the kind of leader who the others can look upto and seek motivation from. Herrera was compared to Roy Keane for his impressive performances last season, but he has faded away considerably since then.
And United seem to lack depth and variety in midfield too, apart from someone who can act as a no-nonsense leader. And they have had to play the largely immobile midfielders in Matic and Herrera whenever Pogba is injured or suspended. That where a player like Strootman can come in handy for Jose Mourinho, with links already being drawn rather strongly to Lazio’s Sergey Milinkovic-Savic.
And considering how Fellaini and Herrera could be on their way, Strootman and Milinkovic-Savic would make perfect sense. They’re more complete the supposedly outgoing pair and will be an upgrade, when it comes to height and physicality.
Strootman is more mobile than Herrera and shares some similar traits, barring his big physique. He is six foot one inch tall and stronger than the Spaniard. Their goalscoring output is quite the same and they perform a similar job, but Strootman is a bit more adept and comfortable in bringing the ball forward than Herrera.
If there is one thing that makes many Roma fans love Strootman, then its his fighter instincts. That rings bells, if you are a Man United fan largely because even Herrera himself earned himself the tag of being a passionate warrior for the club last season. Thus came the comparisons with Roy Keane.
Eusebio di Francesco himself once told that he sees the Dutch star as a proper leader. A day before Roma’s Champions League game against Atletico Madrid recently, di Francesco said: “Strootman is a leader both in training and on the pitch. He is a decisive player who knows how to lift the team. We will need players like him tomorrow, while I am counting on them all. We will need his strength of character against Atletico - he will be our main weapon.”
Strootman’s current deal at Roma expires in 2022 as he penned an extension this past summer itself. He has a release clause in the region of 45 million euros and Jose Mourinho can well look at signing him.