Manchester United have got their Frenkie de Jong without paying €85m

In a record summer splurge totalling £225.41million, Manchester United's best investment may be a signing they did not pay a fee for.

Louis van Gaal, Jose Mourinho and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer all spoke to Christian Eriksen to gauge how receptive he would be to joining United and they might all glance enviously at Erik ten Hag, the United manager who has the privilege of coaching the Danish aesthete.

Eriksen will turn 31 on Valentine's Day and United supporters are already smitten. They have not had a deep-lying midfielder blessed with such vision since Michael Carrick in his last fulfilling season six years ago and it has to be a matter of time until the Stretford End airs a paean to Eriksen.

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He was at the centre of United's eight-pass, 10-second routine in their own third at Leicester and Eriksen is already integral to the identity Ten Hag gradually implements. Eriksen has quickly dispelled the notion he would effectively replace Juan Mata, restricted to a bit-part role in his last three years at Old Trafford, by starting all six of their games this term.

The onus is no longer solely on Bruno Fernandes to break the lines. Ten Hag has had no issue in accommodating Fernandes and Eriksen in the same team, playmakers at the base and apex of midfield who skilfully breached Arsenal's defence time and again.

Where once Fernandes was over-burdened with playmaking tasks, it has now been alleviated by Eriksen. Eriksen found Fernandes with probing, vertical passes for United's first two goals against Arsenal and Fernandes located Eriksen to square for Marcus Rashford.

"I spoke to him about how he sees me as a player and where he sees me," Eriksen