Marouane Fellaini Welcomed as the Missing Piece of Manchester United's Midfield

Manchester United new signing Marouane Fellaini is equipped with all the tools to succeed at Old Trafford according to assistant boss Steve Round.

After a window where United missed out on signing Cesc Fabregas and Ander Herrera among others, Fellaini was the only significant addition for the Premier League champions ahead of David Moyes' first season as manager.

Round, appointed to Moyes' backroom team at United in the summer, was among the scouts at Everton charged with watching Fellaini prior to his move to Goodison Park in 2008 from Standard Liege and knows the Belgian midfielder better than most. He is adamant his move will prove to be succcessful

"I am sure Marouane will settle in very quickly and be an integral part of United's success in the future, I really do," Round told the Manchester Evening News.

"I had seen Marouane play because he was on the radar of a lot of clubs at that time being such a young player," the United assistant added.

"I had watched him for a couple of years in some of the Belgian junior teams. Then I joined Everton and within weeks I saw him again for Standard Liege against Liverpool in a Champions League qualifier. He played really well in that game. He was the number one target for David that time.

"I came back from that match and I gave him a really good report and then we signed him."

"He was a little bit raw but had a lot of the attributes you would need. Over the five years at Everton he has really established himself as a top Premier League player."

Despite failed bids for Fabregas and Herrera, Moyes always targeted a powerful midfield presence to join a United side who have been accused of being lightweight in the middle despite claiming the league title by 15 points last season.

And Round says United have an all-round midfielder on their hands.

"When David came here he looked at the squad and thought one of the players we needed to bring in was someone with those physical attributes in the middle of midfield who could give us strength and aggression in certain games and maybe allow one or two of the others to play," Round added.

"That, coupled with his ability to score, made him feel Marouane would be a really good acquisition for United.

"When you are building a squad to compete on all fronts you don't want every single player to be the same. You want options and differences. In a certain game it might be Tom Cleverley and Carrick in midfield, it might be Fellaini and Carrick, or Fellaini and Anderson. There are different permutations."