Eduardo Camavinga: Who is he and why are Manchester United desperate to sign him?

Eduardo Camavinga is marked as the next big thing in French football. The teenage midfielder was born in Maconge, Angola. He later moved to France with his family when he was just two years old and spent his formative years in Fougeres.

In 2013, Eduardo Camavinga became part of Rennes' youth system and signed his first professional contract in December of 2018, becoming the youngest professional player at the club. Four months later, he made his first-team debut for Rennes versus Angers SCO in a 3-3 draw.

The midfielder grabbed eyeballs in August of 2019 when he recorded an assist and won the Man of the Match award in a 2-1 win against Paris Saint-Germain. In the game, Camavinga completed 98% of his passes and won three tackles.

After breaking into the Rennes first-team, Eduardo Camavinga made his debut for France U-21 and went on became the second-youngest player to play for the senior side. The Rennes club's former manager had so much trust in the teenager that he had played Camavinga in multiple positions during the 2019-20 season.

Eduardo Camavinga

Eduardo Camavinga's style of play

Rennes generally plays possession-based defensive football. Former manager, Julien Stephens, was himself a former defensive midfielder.

The French club operate with two defensive midfielders in a 4-4-2 formation, with Eduardo Camavinga and Benjamin Bouriegaud in central midfield. With the arrival of Steven Nzonzi at the club on loan, the pair were moved further up the pitch with Nzonzi functioning as a CDM.

In the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season, Eduardo Camavinga won 72% of his tackles and his 4.5 successful tackles per 90 minutes was the highest across Europe's top 5 leagues.

This is proof that Camavinga is a versatile player. He averages 2.8 tackles and 0.7 interceptions per game, which is much higher when compared to the Red Devil's Scott McTominay, who averaged just 1.6 tackles per game in the 2019-20 season.

Camavinga also had a passing accuracy of 89% in the 2019-20 Ligue 1 season. He loves to dictate the game from the middle of the park, usually by dropping deep to provide quick. Camavinga is also highly aware of where his teammates are and can feed first-time passes without taking any additional touches.

With the arrival of Steven Nzonzi, Camavinga's defensive burden has reduced. However, the teenager is still the central figure in the Rennes line-up with him playing a vital role in the team's attacking unit.

Why are Manchester United desperate to sign Camavinga?

Ole Gunnar Solksjaer is eager to bring in at least one new midfielder this season. Manchester United's defence is highly exposed when they move forward and they are in need of a quality DM.

Camavinga would be competing with Nemanja Matic, Fred and McTominay. However, Matic is in his late 30s and Camavinga has better stats than McTominay when comparing the pair's stats from the 2019-20 season.

The teenager is also viewed as a replacement for Paul Pogba who is into the last year of his Manchester United contract. Camavinga's awareness, talent, stamina, versatility and pressing ability make him the perfect player for Manchester United in midfield.