Manchester United midfielder Donny van de Beek is not a world-class player and would be better suited to Everton.
That’s according to former Dutch international René van der Gijp, who has questioned whether United’s summer signing is as good as he is given credit for.
Van de Beek arrived at Old Trafford in a £35.1m deal from Ajax in the summer, signing a five-year contract at the club.
It had been expected he would quickly establish himself in Manchester United’s midfield, but that has not proven to be the case, with the midfielder playing a bit part role so far.
For example, he has started just one of Manchester United’s nine Premier League games so far, although he has been a regular in the Champions League.
This has caused plenty of consternation back in the Netherlands, with some in his home country believing a player of his quality should be a key player under Ole Gunnar Solskjaer.
That is not an opinion shared by Van de Gijp, though, who questioned that notion when comparing Van de Beek to Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes.
“Van de Beek is not a world-class player, more Everton,” he told SBS 6, relayed by Ajax showtime.
“He (Fernandes) has scoring ability, depth and he can give balls of which you say ‘I never saw them coming’.
“And Van de Beek always gives balls that I think ‘I saw that too’ so there is little surprise in it.
“The question is: do you think there is still a lot of flexibility in Van de Beek? Do you think he’ll be even better than that very good year in the Champions League he had?”
