Summary Man United could ship on Scott McTominay to seal an exciting new signing. Such a move would be bad news for fellow new boy Mason Mount. The player in question is an excellent dribbler of the ball and a strong passer.
Manchester United are still very active in the transfer market despite the summer window closing on Friday, and now a new update has emerged on a potential late move.
What's the latest Man United transfer news?
According to German transfer journalist Christian Falk, Man United are discussing a potential "swap loan deal" with Bayern Munich for Scott McTominay and Ryan Gravenberch.
Falk revealed on social media:
"TRUE. Bayern is interested in Scott McTominay. Also a swap loan deal with Ryan Gravenberch is discussed."
Read the latest Man United transfer news HERE…
Such a move could well be bad news for the injured Mason Mount.
How long is Mason Mount injured for?
Erik ten Hag has had to deal with a number of issues plaguing the opening weeks of the Premier League campaign, with injuries mounting and concerning performances on the pitch.
New signing Mason Mount has struggled to make an impressive impact in the centre of the pitch following his £60m move to Old Trafford, and has now suffered a setback with a thigh injury.
Indeed, that will be enough to reportedly keep him out of the match-day squad until at least the end of September, as per Premier League Injuries.
What is Ryan Gravenberch good at?
As a result, the signing of Gravenberch could be a great opportunity for Ten Hag to not only offload McTominay, but add quality depth in the midfield presence and provide Mount with strong competition.
The £151k-per-week midfielder is no stranger to the former Ajax coach as he broke through the Dutch club's academy to become a first-team regular, before moving last summer to Bayern Munich when Ten Hag moved to Manchester.
The now Man United boss was extremely fond of the Netherlands prodigy and waxed lyrical about Gravenberch whilst working with him back in 2022:
"Ryan is a very young player," Ten Hag claimed.
"He's very important for our team because he's a box-to-box player. He accelerates out of positional play, does good dribbling, has tremendous passing ability and participates in the build-up play.
"Due to his athleticism and physique, he is also strong in the transition game and can also win the balls. He's come a long way, but can still learn a lot."
Despite finding himself lacking in game-time with the Bundesliga champions, Gravenberch has still managed to maintain his high standards when given opportunities.
Indeed, he ranks in the top 25% of his positional peers across the top five European leagues per 90 minutes for shots on goal, successful take-ons, tackles, progressive passes and shot-creating actions.
Not only that, when comparing Gravenberch's output to Mount's last season, the two midfielders came close in a number of key attributes including shots on target rate (27.3% v 27.3%), pass completion rate (87.4% v 75.2% in favour of Gravenberch), shot-creating actions per 90 (3.91 v 3.11), percentage of dribblers tackled (52.8% v 51.9%) and aerial duels won (40% v 39.1%), as per FBref.
With that being said, if Ten Hag could secure the signing of a "top talent" such as Gravenberch over the remaining days of the window it would certainly pose as bad news to Mount.
However, it would give United a player who can not only bolster the midfield presence in the absence of the Englishman, but also slot in perfectly due to his already sound understanding of the manager's philosophy and style of play.