Are you watching Man Utd? Ajax sign player ‘faster than Kylian Mbappe’

Robin Bairner

• 27 May 2023 20:53 BST
• 3 min read

Manchester United have done a good deal of their transfer shopping at Ajax over the course of the last year, with Lisandro Martinez and Antony notably moving to Old Trafford from the Amsterdam club.

Erik ten Hag, then, will have been interested to see the Eredivisie side sign a player who is being dubbed “faster than Kylian Mbappe”.

Branco van den Boomen is the very first acquisition of the new director of football affairs Sven Mislintat at Ajax. The 27-year-old Dutchman arrives from Toulouse on a free transfer and reportedly signs a contract until the summer of 2027. The midfielder was also coveted by PSV, Feyenoord and Galatasaray.

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"He's like a quarterback, he barely moves and everything around him is done to make sure he's free to put that ball where he wants," Suleyman Ozturk told . "He is a great passer, but he is incredibly slow. Forwards and backwards.

“But not in his head, he is faster there than Kylian Mbappe. Only it is difficult if you are fast in your head, but those legs think: We're not going to cooperate, take it easy.’"

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Is Van den Boomen Ajax quality?

Van den Boomen, though, is unlikely to be heading to Old Trafford any time soon. At 27 years old, he is not about to develop the athletic qualities that Ten Hag demands in his team – and indeed there is doubt that he will fit in particularly well at Ajax.

Indeed, according to data analytics experts SciSports, Atalanta would be a better destination for the Dutchman, while Feyenoord and PSV both appear better suited to the midfielder, who has become known as an assist king in France thanks to the quality of his set-piece delivery.