Jaap Stam believes Jurrien Timber making the move to Manchester United is the “most logical option” for the Dutch defender.
Ajax star Timber was strongly linked with a switch to Old Trafford last summer, with Erik ten Hag keen on bringing the 21-year-old with him to Manchester, but that did not materialise and it was instead Lisandro Martinez who left the Eredivisie club to join United.
However, it is expected that United will once again be in the market for a centre-back this summer, with Harry Maguire out of favour under Ten Hag and Luke Shaw having to move inside to the middle of defence to cover for injuries to Martinez and Raphael Varane.
While former United defender Stam warned Timber that he would need time to adapt to life in England, he still feels Old Trafford is the destination that makes most sense.
“The big advantage of United for Timber is that he already knows Ten Hag and vice versa,” Stam told AD.
“The intentions of the trainer are molded to Timber, but make no mistake, this is the Premier League. There you can’t always be dominant, you have to duel much more and that against strikers like Harry Kane and Erling Haaland.
“You also have to look at combinations and chance of playing time. United can still use a defender, also because Raphael Varane is prone to injury and Harry Maguire is still disappointing. In England I therefore see United as the most logical option.”
However, while Timber has been an ever-present in the Ajax side this season at centre-back, Stam believes he would be a better option at full-back for United to replace Diogo Dalot and Aaron Wan-Bissaka.
“What I would like to see more often is Timber as a right back,” Stam said. “Dalot without the ball and Wan-Bissaka on the ball don’t quite convince me yet.”
