So what type of player is van Ginkel? If you put a gun to my head and forced me to sum him up in one word, I'd end up using "complete". He's one of those players that you can totally miss when watching a game, but if you really pay attention to what he's doing, you can't help but come away impressed.
Van Ginkel turned 20 years old this past January, and made his Vitesse debut at the age of 17. He's got good size, standing a bit over 6'1" tall (186 cm). I certainly wouldn't describe him as exceptionally strong right now, but you can clearly see that he's added some bulk over the past several years and it's not hard to see him looking a bit like Michael Ballack in terms of build when he reaches his mid-20's.
He runs fairly well, and certainly possesses above average pace and acceleration for a player deployed in the center of the pitch. He's also shown the ability to run non-stop for 90 minutes, a particularly useful trait for a player that seems to come directly out of the Frank Lampard/Steven Gerrard school of midfielding. All in all, he's pretty much the physical prototype for a world class central midfielder.
Technically, van Ginkel doesn't leave a whole lot to be desired either. He's not the flashiest, but he's got an excellent range of passing and is fairly comfortable with the ball at his feet. He moves the ball quickly, not taking multiple touches after receiving the ball very often. He doesn't dribble into the attacking third very often, preferring to collect the ball and quickly move it to a teammate.
The weighting of his passes is one of the most impressive parts of his game. He excels at sliding balls into the path of running teammates, something that has been badly missed in the Chelsea pivot for the majority of the past several seasons.
Speaking of the pivot, van Ginkel would be ideally suited to that role. For a young player that grew up learning to play as a wing or attacking midfielder, he's shown a tremendous amount of positional discipline and defensive awareness. His tackling has come a long way over the past season and a half, and he's got a knack for stepping into passing lanes and quickly starting the counter after intercepting the ball.
His attacking roots tend to show a bit when Vitesse are in possession, as he loves to make the patented "Frank Lampard late run into the box". He's a quality finisher as well, as his eight goals this season from a deep lying midfield position would certainly indicate.
He's a versatile player, having played as a lone-holder, as part of a pivot, as a wing, as a #10, and even as a center forward during his Vitesse career. The only one of those roles in which he struggled was in his attempt to replace Wilfried Bony in the center of the attack, so unfortunately we'll still have to find someone else to replace Fernando Torres.
The rumored price I've been hearing is only €10 million, which actually makes me scratch my head a bit. The player is one of the better young midfielders in Europe, and has been linked to tons of different clubs. It's worth noting that Everton were very interested in adding him this past January, with (current Manchester United manager) David Moyes taking in quite a few Vitesse games in person.