He has not yet made his Manchester United debut but Marouane Fellaini will add some much needed steel to the Red Devils’ engine room, according to assistant boss Steve Round.
The 25-year-old Belgian international was a deadline day signing from Everton, costing the Old Trafford club £27.5million and letting Fellaini link up with ex-boss David Moyes.
And Moyes’ assistant Round feels Fellaini will fit right in at the Premier League champions and gives them another option in central midfield.
“He will add some real physical presence to us in midfield, some strength, and he scores goals,” Round told MUTV.
“Maybe we needed that bit of presence and authority that can sit in the middle of the pitch and dominate a game from that perspective. It gives a nice blend and balance to mix the midfield up.
“He’s a player that will get regular double figures, and he is maybe a player that we didn’t really have in the middle of that midfield.
“He’s a very strong character, with very good self-belief. It won’t daunt him to play at this level and he is mentally very tough.”
Fellaini signed for Everton from Standard Liege in 2008 for £15million and went on to score 33 goals in 177 games for the blue half of Merseyside.
And having worked alongside the Belgian fox six years at Goodison Park, Round feels Fellaini deserves his chance at the Theatre of Dreams.
“He’s earned and deserved the right to be here,” he explained. “He’s progressed every single year as a player, to the stage where the manager, the staff and the board here feel that he deserved the opportunity to play at this level.”
“When a player comes to Manchester United, they have to have the correct mentality to survive here. It’s not enough to be good every so often, you have got to be good every minute of every day.
“Ryan Giggs has said it’s not enough to be good in training, you’ve got to be good with every pass. Marouane will rise to that, he’ll love that challenge.”
Fellaini could make his United debut in this weekend’s Saturday lunchtime kick-off at Old Trafford against promoted Crystal Palace.
Image courtesy of MUTV, via Youtube, with thanks.
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