Man Utd ready to move for Ajax prospects to bolster midfield

Desperate to reinforce his midfield, Sir Alex Ferguson has targeted two Ajax starlets to reduce the average age of an area of his side that features Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs.

Sir Alex has long admired playmaker Christian Eriksen, and was believed to be using the Europa League meeting between Manchester United and Ajax to run the rule over the young Danish international.

He has now followed his interest in Eriksen by expressing his desire to bring 17-year-old Viktor Fischer to Old Trafford.

Fischer, also Danish, has shown remarkable signs of development since his summer switch from FC Midtjylland to Ajax, and he will now hope to emulate the success of former Amsterdam youth products such as Clarence Seedorf, Dennis Bergkamp, Edgar Davids and Marco Van Basten in the coming years.

It is believed however, that Sir Alex would prioritise a move for Eriksen, who, at just 19 years of age, already possesses quantitive international experience with 20 caps to his name.

The United chief will decide whether or not to follow up his interest with a concrete offer after seeing how the player performs under the spotlight at Old Trafford, and while he has other options in the transfer market such as Nicolas Gaitan and Luka Modric, Eriksen would cost considerably less than either of those targets.

Eriksen’s versatility would also seem to attract Ferguson, who is in search of a long-term successor to Scholes, and the success he has had with past acquisitions from Dutch clubs in the form of Ruud Van Nistelrooy and Jaap Stam will tempt him yet further to do a deal.

The Red Devils boss recently proclaimed: “The standard of Dutch football is always good. 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 they keep producing new ones.”