Wth 17 goals and 13 assists in all competitions this season as an attacking midfielder, Van de Beek has obviously caught the attention of a number of Europe’s elite, including Jürgen Klopp’s Reds.
“He is a perfect backup for many clubs”, Van der Kraan claimed.
“He is not the No. 1 for most clubs – I have seen scouts from Tottenham, Man United, Everton, Liverpool and Newcastle at Ajax Amsterdam Arena watching him a number of times.
“He is an ideal player for the Premier League, he has the skills, like most Ajax players, and a big tank so he can run all day. But all these clubs have a priority list and Van de Beek seems the perfect backup for the big clubs.”
“I think he is keen on the Premier League, more than the Bundesliga or Serie A.”
Van der Kraan doesn’t explicitly state when this scouting took place, though we can assume it was his current, stellar season.
Earlier this week, the Dutchman also told talkSPORT he thinks Van de Beek has “got his eyes set on a club like Man United or Tottenham Hotspur.” If we’re not his No. 1 choice, we don’t expect Klopp to shell out for him.
“Van de Beek wants a move to Man United or Spurs.”
Dutch football expert Marcel van der Kraan says Ajax star Donny van de Beek is looking for a move to #MUFC or #THFC.
Another brilliant talent could be heading to the Premier League 🙌 pic.twitter.com/DhU2LvVAtQ
— talkSPORT (@talkSPORT) June 10, 2019
With the host of talented midfielders we already have at Anfield, it seems very unlikely Van de Beek would start for us – a point Van der Kraan acknowledges above.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is ready to return for the upcoming season and Naby Keïta finally found form towards the tail end of the campaign just gone.
We’re more than well-stocked in the middle of the park as it is and with these two, we feel we’ve already got the profile of player Van de Beek represents.
Eventually, we know we’ll have to replace James Milner and Adam Lallana, but as Ox was absent last season and Keïta was blowing hot and cold, in the upcoming campaign we back them both to make the most of their minutes and kick on.