The stunning rebirth of Jesse Lingard put a smile on the face of everyone at Old Trafford. Well, maybe everyone except Donny Van de Beek.
Because the last thing poor old Donny needed was yet more competition for a starting berth in an already well-stocked Manchester United engine-room.
The Dutch international has begun just four Premier League games since moving to England in a £35 million deal last year and, with Bruno Fernandes and Paul Pogba already ahead of him in the pecking order, there is an argument to be made that Van de Beek is now Ole Gunner Solskjaer’s fourth-choice attacking midfielder.
Should United have let Donny Van de Beek join Everton?
“There was a lot of interest from Italy, Germany, England, so that looked good,” Van de Beek’s agent, Guido Albers, said earlier this week after United blocked a deadline-day loan move to Everton (AD).
“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.”
There’s little doubt that first-team minutes would have been easier to come by at Goodison Park. Andre Gomes is no Bruno Fernandes after all.
And there are certainly plenty of Manchester United supporters who believe Van de Beek would have benefitted immensely from a short-term, morale-boosting spell a few miles down the M62.
There are a few crumbs of comfort however. United, as ever, will be fighting on multiple fronts this term and opportunities will arrive sooner rather than later.
Then again, EFL Cup cameos are not exactly what Van de Beek had in mind when joining one of the biggest footballing institutions on planet earth.
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