Donny Van de Beek’s camp have been left ‘disappointed’ after Manchester United blocked a deadline day move to Premier League rivals Everton, the Dutchman’s agent tells Voetbal International.
When a player moves to England from a somewhat ‘lesser’ league, it usually takes him a while to get going.
The opposite, however, was true of Van de Beek; a man who made a fine start to life at Old Trafford before tumbling down the pecking order.
It is easy to forget now that the former Ajax star marked his Premier League debut with a very well-taken goal against Crystal Palace 12 months ago.
Then there was that Man of the Match performance in the EFL Cup hammering of Luton Town a few weeks later, a display capped by a gorgeous backheel assist.
But that was about as good as it got for Man United’s £35 million forgotten man.
Should United have let Donny Van de Beek join Everton?
Van de Beek cannot buy a start these days and, after Everton were denied the chance to strike a deadline-day deal, the Dutch international looks set to spend his second season in English football watching on from the sidelines (AD).
“There was a lot of interest from Italy, Germany, England, so that looked good,” says Van de Beek’s agent, Guido Albers. “But you need the co-operation of the club, and it looked like they would, but ultimately they didn’t.
“(We are) disappointed. Everybody who knows Donny knows he loves the game and he wants to be on the pitch every week.”
Albers does suggest that Van de Beek has been assured of his first-team role under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, though it is hard to imagine the 24-year-old forcing his way into the picture ahead of Bruno Fernandes, Paul Pogba or a rejuvenated Jesse Lingard.
“He’s been promised (game-time) before. But we came to a clear agreement about this with the club, so we have all faith that it will happen now.”
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