Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer believes Antonio Valencia is a very similar player to David Beckham, in that his first thought on receiving the ball is to find Sir Alex Ferguson’s strikers, namely Wayne Rooney.
The once prolific Norwegian forward who now coaches the Manchester United reserves, credits Beckham for a huge number of his goals at Old Trafford, and he sees parallels between the England hero and Valencia.
Solskjaer claims Wayne Rooney is the main beneficiary of Valencia’s arrival because the Manchester United striker now knows all he has to do is find space in the box for the Ecuadorian to deliver into.
The Manchester United legend and reserve team manager told the Manchester Evening News: “Antonio is a striker's dream. He is also a manager's dream,"
"He works hard and he does his bit defensively. He doesn't just do the flash bits. He keeps the team shape when he doesn't have the ball and attempts to win it back.”
"He has something special because he has pace and he has a delivery.”
“I can understand the comparisons between Becks' service and what Antonio is providing now. The work ethic of both players is the same. Their first thought is to put in a dangerous effort for the strikers to feed off.”
"Just like with David, you know when Antonio is going to cross the ball. He doesn't dilly-dally, as soon as he can, he is going to cross it. He puts his head down and you know it is going to come in.”
"It is just what you want. You can get that half-second ahead of a defender because you can make your move early knowing the virtually where the ball is going to end up. It gives you a great advantage.”
"Wayne Rooney will be experiencing that now.”
“You get a little feeling about where the ball is going to go. You get to know your team-mates and you know what they will do when the get the ball. Wayne knows exactly what Antonio's first thoughts will be.”
"Wayne has been hitting it off with Antonio recently. And whoever has been up front will know that they can expect a ball in that will cause defences problems and you give an edge.”
"As a striker you want to find space. That is your best friend in the box. So to find that space you have to have an understanding with those putting the crosses in. You have to have a strong inkling about what they will do.”
"When I played with Becks I knew him inside out. I knew when he got the ball his first idea was to put the ball in the vicinity of whoever was playing up front.”
"Becks didn't think about doing something special for the crowd. He just wanted to deliver the ball in efficiently and for one of us to score a goal. So many of my goals came from an assist from him.”