Donny van de Beek became Manchester United’s first summer signing after the Red Devils completed his transfer from Ajax on Wednesday.
The Netherlands international agreed a five-year deal and the Old Trafford club retain an option to extend it by a further 12 months.
De Telegraaf have an exclusive interview with the 23-year-old, and he’s spoken at length on various topics, including his failed move to Real Madrid, a conversation with Ole Gunnar Solskjaer last week and his ambitions with the Premier League club.
That failed move to Madrid seems to be overstated, just after it was reported in the Netherlands, media closest to the La Liga side dismissed it. Sure, there was a deal there if they wanted it, but Madrid hadn’t made a final decision.
“You do not want to know how relieved I am that I have my transfer. As you know I was around with Real Madrid and the clubs also had an agreement, but for some reason it did not go through,” Van de Beek said.
“Players who were going to leave, stayed and Madrid dropped out. Of course, you are annoyed at the beginning and you wonder if such a possibility will arise again.
“Manchester United is a dream, of course a great club, in the strongest league in the world. I didn’t have to think for a second when I got this chance.”
Solskjaer knows the player from his time at Molde as Van de Beek scored a header against the Norwegian side in the 2015/16 Europa League qualifiers at the Johan Cruijff ArenA.
“I had a great conversation with him last week. It was about private matters, but was mainly football-related,” the Dutchman explained.
“It turned out that the manager had been following me for a long time. When he was the manager of Molde, in that match in the Johan Cruijff ArenA I scored with with a head wound and bandage… He said he knows exactly what my great strength is and thinks that I should also get into the box a lot at United.
“They [former United duo Edwin van der Sar and Daley Blind] were lyrical, said that United are an incredibly big, but above all, a warm club. And that is how I have experienced it so far. I can’t wait to get started there.”
Manchester United succeeded in their efforts to sign Van de Beek this summer, after failing to land him in January.
“…Ajax did not want to sell in the winter market, and I was also not in favour of a transfer,” the player revealed.
“Manchester United came back in June. The club wanted to go ahead and make a bid, but had to put on the brakes due to the corona crisis. I thought after Real: it won’t go wrong again, will it? But after the Premier League was finished, I felt it would be okay.”
Van de Beek sees moving to England as a challenge, but is aware he needs to start from scratch.
“That seems annoying [need to start from scratch], but it’s also nice. If you’re at the bottom of the ladder, you can start climbing. It’s up to me now to show how fast I can climb up. And I see that as a challenge,” the new United signing stressed.
“From watching on TV and through the conversations with Gini (Wijnaldum) and Virgil (van Dijk) at the Dutch national team, I know that this league will be much more physical than the Eredivisie.
“My father-in-law Dennis Bergkamp may have played for another club [Arsenal], but is a legend in England and knows what it’s like in the Premier League. He insists that it is very nice, but also very hard to play in. I’m going to get ready for that.
“So, I have to make strides. Not only by going to the gym, as many people think, but also by being challenged at the top level every week.”
On what he wants to achieve at Manchester United, Van de Beek said: “With a young, beautiful team, which I think I will fit in well with, we want to bring United back to the top and win trophies.
“Personally, I hope to follow in the footsteps of the Dutch, who are talked about with a lot of respect in Manchester: Van der Sar, Van Persie, Van Nistelrooy, Stam and Blind.”
