Manchester United are reportedly set to launch a £25 million bid to sign Netherlands international Steven Bergwijn in the ongoing transfer window.
As per a report from the Mirror, Manchester United are plotting a January move for PSV Eindhoven and Netherlands forward Steven Bergwijn, after having scouted the 21-year-old extensively in recent weeks.
Bergwijn has been with PSV since 2011, having joined the club’s youth setup from the academy of rivals Ajax. Having risen rapidly through the youth ranks, the attacker broke into the first-team during the 2014-15 season under then-manager Phillip Cocu, at a tender age of 17 years.
The 21-year-old featured sporadically over the next year or so before becoming a full-fledged member of the senior team in the 2016-17 term. Bergwijn, till date, has gone on to feature 104 times for PSV, scoring 20 goals and setting up 24 more and has won the Dutch Eredivisie title on three occasions.
Bergwijn is enjoying a fine start to the ongoing campaign, having already netted 10 times and assisted 9 more from just 25 appearances, helping PSV to the summit of the Dutch top-flight. He has featured three times for the Netherlands national team, having made his debut in October last year.
A versatile forward, who can play anywhere across the frontline, Bergwijn is known for his blistering pace and dribbling ability and can chip in with goals and assists in plenty as indicated by his numbers in the past couple of seasons. And this has drawn the attention of Manchester United interim manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
The Norwegian, who has led the Red Devils to seven consecutive victories since taking over, is believed to have requested the board for the 21-year-old’s signing. And after having scouted the £25 million-rated attacker, the club are understood to be willing to sanction a bid before the end of the January transfer window.
A move might prove to be difficult, however, considering that Bergwijn signed a new contract extension with PSV till 2022 only this past summer and has stated previously that he wants to finish the season at the Phillips Stadion.
“I am not concerned with big clubs or with rumours about interest. I have remained with PSV this summer because I want to continue the line here to the end of the season,” said Bergwijn, when asked about his future.
Manchester United have plenty of options in their forward line as it is, with Marcus Rashford, Anthony Martial, who is set to sign a new contract, and Jesse Lingard establishing themselves as the preferred triumvirate under the new boss, while Romelu Lukaku, Alexis Sanchez and Juan Mata wait on the benches.
At the same time, there are a number of promising young prospects coming through the club’s youth ranks – Angel Gomes, Tahith Chong, Joshua Bohui and Mason Greenwood, to name a few. However, given Manchester United’s issues on the right flank in recent years, the 21-year-old could be viewed as a long-term solution to that problem.
In a recent interview, Solskjaer had stated that there wouldn’t be much transfer activity at Manchester United in the ongoing window. And given Bergwijn’s statements, a move before the end of the month does seem extremely unlikely.