Donny van de Beek is on the verge of becoming a Manchester United player, but before he can travel to England and put on his club’s new shirt, he’s joining up with the Dutch national squad.
The Premier League club worked hard over the weekend to find an agreement with both Ajax and the player. With the Eredivisie side leaking claims of others being interested, it gave Manchester United the motivation they needed to hurry up.
Now the transfer is so close to completion that even the player’s father has been talking about what a dream come true it is for the midfielder and his family.
Dwight Lodeweges is currently the interim coach for Oranje, after Ronald Koeman left to take over at Barcelona, and today’s he’s been asked if he considered leaving Van de Beek out of the squad, given the transfer situation.
That idea was dismissed, with Lodeweges quoted by Voetbal Primeur as saying: “No, I think it is almost done. I think there is still an inspection attached to it. It will take place. I am certainly not going to send Donny home, because he would love to be here himself. That is also important.”
Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk was also asked about the transfer, and whether he’d tried to change his teammate’s mind: “Whether I try to change his mind? No, if it happens – and it looks like it – then I give him that wholeheartedly. Great for him, great for Dutch football, for the Dutch national team and another great club for an Oranje player. The same goes for Nathan Aké who has gone to Manchester City.”
