Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek does not want to leave the club this month and would prefer to be ‘patient’ about his prospects at Old Trafford.
That’s according to Het Parool, who look at the Dutch midfielder’s situation in Manchester today after a disappointing first half of the campaign.
Van de Beek joined Manchester United in a £35m deal from Ajax in the summer and had been expected to feature regularly following his impressive displays for the Dutch giants.
That has not happened, though, with the 23-year-old playing a substitute role at best and managing just two starts in the Premier League so far.
The situation has naturally caused plenty of coverage, with claims that he should leave the club this month and that he’s so upset about how things are going he doesn’t want to give interviews.
Having entered the club ‘through a side entrance’ due to Coronavirus, they say he’s ended up ‘further out of the picture’ due to Solskjaer settling on a formation that suits Paul Pogba and the Frenchman’s ‘resurrection’.
Van de Beek had moved to Manchester United to compete with Pogba who was ‘complaining, possibly departing’ not long ago and out of favour.
That, coupled with his ‘substantial’ price tag and the fact he offered something different meant when the Dutchman arrived there was ‘confidence’ he could do well and the idea of playing half of United’s potential 60 games this year was ‘realistic’.
Indeed, United were the best option for him, but that has not proven to be the case.
This is something Van de Beek has noted and he ‘tries to be patient’, resisting the temptation to seek a loan move as that would be perceived as him ‘giving up the competition’ in Manchester, something he ‘absolutely wants to avoid’.
He does this in the full knowledge that his place in the Netherlands squad for Euro 2020 is at risk and that his situation could worsen if United ‘start throwing money again’.
The one positive for the midfielder is his home life, with the player said to be living in a ‘clear, calm bubble’ alongside his girlfriend. This is described as ‘boring’ but also free of ‘ballast and side issues’.
The suggestion is that while he’s unhappy with not playing, he’s also playing the long game and happier to travel the ‘bumpy’ road at Manchester United than give up and move somewhere else this month.
