We 'swapped' Donny van de Beek with Ismael Bennacer and this is how Manchester United performed

AC Milan midfielder Ismael Bennacer is being linked with a move to Manchester United, in a deal which could reportedly involve Donny van de Beek.

Van de Beek, who featured rarely under former managers Ole Gunnar Solskjaer and Ralf Rangnick, was thought to have had the potential of a more involved role in the squad with the arrival of compatriot Erik ten Hag.

United have already had a busy transfer window with the departures of Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard to name just two, while Argentinian centre-back Lisandro Martinez is on the verge of joining from Ajax. Dutch left-back Tyrell Malacia has made the move from Feyenoord and former Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen bolsters Ten Hag's ranks in midfield.

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So, would Bennacer be able to fit into Ten Hag's plans better than Van de Beek can? And can Van de Beek prove the doubters wrong by lighting up the Serie A in Bennacer's place? We simulated both United and AC Milan's 2022/23 seasons to find out.

For this simulation to happen, we used the in-game editor for Football Manager 22 to allow the swap deal of Bennacer to United and Van de Beek to Milan at the start of the 2022 summer transfer window.

Ismael Bennacer under Ten Hag

Looking at Bennacer's in-game attributes, he's an incredibly balanced player - meaning he has solid attributes across the board. As a central midfielder, his passing, technique, and vision attributes particularly stand out alongside his bravery, tackling and positioning. He's also not shy of pace so he's able to track back to defend quickly should he find himself in that situation.

Whilst he only contributed to six goals in 34 games across all competitions,