There were great hopes for Donny van de Beek, both when he signed for Man Utd and when Erik ten Hag became manager. What went wrong?
Donny van de Beek working his way back to fitness at Manchester United (Image: Man Utd)
The MEN reported last week that the arrival of Mason Mount will mean a midfield departure from Old Trafford in this transfer window. After failing to establish himself in any of his three seasons at United, or during his loan spell at Everton, the club are expected to be open to offers for the 26-year-old this summer.
The Dutchman arrived at United from Ajax in 2020 for £35m and started only four games in his first season, failing to display the form that had propelled an exciting Erik ten Hag side to a Champions League semi-final against Tottenham Hotspur in 2019. In his second season, he started no Premier League matches, saw minimal action under interim managers Michael Carrick and Ralf Rangnick, and was shipped on loan to Everton for the remainder of the season.
When Ten Hag arrived in the summer, however, there was a sense of newfound optimism for the midfielder’s career. He described his lack of playing time under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer as a “mortal sin”. After all, Ten Hag had overseen the Netherlands international’s breakthrough into the Ajax first team.
Speaking to Marca in 2019, Ten Hag spoke of his desperation to keep Van de Beek at Ajax. He said: “We will do everything in our power to keep him at Ajax. We don’t want to lose him, but when clubs of that calibre enter the situation, things get very difficult.
“Donny was very important for us last season and has started this campaign with enthusiasm, freshness and lots of energy, his departure would be a loss.”
He may let the midfielder go without putting up much of a fight this summer. So what has gone wrong?
The most obvious reason is injuries. The midfielder was a vital cog in Ten Hag’s Ajax side, featuring in most matches during their time together at the club. In the 2017/18, 2018/19 and 2019/20 seasons, De Beek only missed a total of two games, to a minor hamstring injury in September 2019.
Since joining United, his injury history has been poor. He has missed 60 games in total since joining the club through injury and was ruled out for the rest of the season due to an injury that he sustained in January.
Van de Beek also played in a far more offensive role in Ten Hag’s Ajax system. He would either play as an attacking midfielder or as a box-to-box with the ability to make constant attacking runs because of the defensive discipline of long-time United target Frenkie De Jong.
In total, Van de Beek played 110 games under Ten Hag in all competitions, during which time he scored 32 goals and provided 29 assists before leaving for United in August 2020.
Throughout his time at United, Van de Beek has had to play a far more rigid position, usually sitting behind the attack-focused Bruno Fernandes when he has had the opportunity to play, as a result, he has come nowhere close to registering the same attacking output that he did at Ajax, registering just one goal and one assist throughout his entire time at the club.
Lack of manager confidence, constant injuries and a lack of output have made Van de Beek an almost certain disappointment at United. If he leaves this summer, fans will be thinking about what could have been.
Source: manchestereveningnews
