Fergie targets Ajax ace No.2: Manchester United watching young playmaker
Posted Tuesday, February 21, 2012 by Menmedia
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is keeping tabs on another Ajax starlet in Viktor Fischer.
The Reds manager is already considering a £15m summer move for Danish playmaker Christian Eriksen. But he is interested in teen sensation Fischer, who is so highly-rated by the Dutch giants.
The 17-year-old midfielder – also from Denmark – signed for Ajax last April after spending his early development at FC Midtjylland.
He has joined the club’s legendary academy, which produced stars like Patrick Kluivert, Edgar Davids, Clarence Seedorf and the De Boer twins.
Ferguson has made an effort to recruit the best emerging talent across the globe in recent seasons, complaining of a lack of value in the transfer market.
Players like Federico Macheda, Paul Pogba and the Da Silvas have all been signed as teenagers in the hope that they will establish themselves at Old Trafford.
Ferguson is confident that he will soon be able to develop home-grown players in the class of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes and David Beckham now that the rules have been relaxed regarding the distances clubs can travel to sign the best emerging talent in England.
But he will continue to spread his scouting network around the world to find the stars of the future.
Eriksen also comes into that category and is considered a potential long-term replacement for Scholes.
The 19-year-old will travel to Old Trafford this week for the second leg of United’s Europa League round of 32 clash with Ajax.
Ferguson is still to decide whether to make a firm bid for the player, who is already being likened to Danish legend Michael Laudrup.
Luka Modric and Benfica’s Nicolas Gaitan are other options, but United could pick up Eriksen for considerably less than either of that duo.
Tottenham are likely to demand in the region of £40-50m for Modric, while Gaitan’s valuation has been quoted at more than £30m.
Last week Ferguson pointed to the problems Dutch sides have in keeping their stars.
United plucked Ruud van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam from Holland and Eriksen would follow a well-worn path.
“The standard of Dutch football is always good,” he said. “The Dutch people will tell you the problem is they always want to leave.
“That’s unfortunately the way it is with Dutch teams, but it is to their credit that keep producing new ones.”
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